Jordan Lake: One never knows what the next bend in the lake’s shoreline will bring to you. This time the bend brought Captain Doug and I into the presence of a merlin! I see a few merlins every winter, but, I have never seen one at Jordan Lake in late April. This small falcon calmly ignored the gawking humans and kept looking for a bird for its next meal.
Jordan Lake Dam Birds
I was sitting on top of the dam this morning thinking that I needed to post some birds for all of you.
I was bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have any decent bald eagles to show you …
and then these two bald eagles flew past.
The top bird is a 4 year old and the lower bird is a 5 year old.
They got to about midway between the Haw River and the New Hope River and they each went a different way.
This bright-eyed falcon is a merlin.
I was surprised to see one this early in the migratory season – I usually see a few about the first of November.
There were so many killdeer swooping and calling at the dam that I thought I was at the beach this morning.
Yep, those are acorns – a total of 4 of them (hard to see the 4th one) – all stuffed in the beak of a fish crow!
Merlins can accelerate in flight at tremendous speeds.
I watched this one leave its perch in a tree and impossibly quick it was past me and down the canal line.
The sharply swept back, long tapered wings say “falcon”. This is the falcon known as a merlin.
They sometimes visit Mattamuskeet Refuge for the winter.
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