Leaping Merlin

Falco columbarius suckleyi or "Black" Merlin

Very very nice, my favorite Merlin!

Great capture!

Oh yeah, this is a keeper! Nice work!

Very nice shot Chuck, a great looking bird. I've never seen one myself. Hawk Migration happens here at the Canyon in the fall months, hope to see and shoot a few hawks.

Nicely timed shot. Well done.

Excellent shot Chuck! Nice action and perfectly framed, well done on capturing this moment.

Nice shot. I hope he didn't eat the Acorn Woodpecker whos tree he was sitting in. You should go back there and get some shots of it. Steve, see the branch? that's a small part to a larder tree.

canonloader wrote in post #10654857
Nice shot. I hope he didn't eat the Acorn Woodpecker whos tree he was sitting in. You should go back there and get some shots of it. Steve, see the branch? that's a small part to a larder tree.

Yeah Mitch, I've seen some trees with nuts in them out in the woods. Some of them are very tall pines, and hard to get a shot of the birds playing around with the acorns. I also just watched Part 3 of "The Life Of Birds" and it shows the Woodpeckers moving the acorns around and fitting them into holes. Very cool video, I think you must have seen it, if not I will send you the link to the site.

I've watched them do it in real life. They will spend the whole day turning nuts over and stuffing them back in the holes. I guess when you don't have TV...

Great shot, I have only ever seen 2 of them. Beautiful birds of prey.

Great timing on the capture there!

It also looks like feathers or some other material in the hollow at the top, left. Is that a nest tucked in there, by chance?

Excellent take-off shot. Perfect timing.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. The feathers on the left side stump are from a White-breasted Nuthatch the Merlin was eating.

What a lovely shot Chuck... your timing and capture is beautiful..

the Merlin is one interesting bird... I spent 10 days photographing fledglings last summer and enjoyed every minute.

db