Participant Photo: Young Merlin learning to fly

Here is a young Merlin in our White Pine learning how to fly. We have had a pair of adult Merlins hanging out in our backyard since April. At first I thought they were Coopers’ Hawks, but using the Merlin Bird sound identifier app (https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/), I was able to verify that they were Merlins. Also, using the Merlin Bird sound app, this morning, on my deck, I played the Merlin call on my mobile phone and one of the adults flew in to investigate where the call was coming from. Unfortunately, another young Merlin fell out of its nest a couple of weeks ago and was found lying dead at the bottom of the pine.