Hello!
Yesterday afternoon between 3 and 4:30 my husband Dan and I did our usual
daily birding of Luria Park entering from the Fallowfield Dr. end which is
near our house. We observed the two Red-headed Woodpeckers as we do daily,
and then proceeded to the boardwalk. While standing on the boardwalk and
looking northward into the woods we saw a slender long tailed silhouette
flying fighter jet like through and above the trees. It perched on the top
of a very tall slender tree about 250 feet north of the boardwalk. It
perched for about 10 minutes preening and watching. We got clear views
despite the cloud cover and identified the bird as a Merlin. This was the
first time we had seen one in Luria Park. Unfortunately we hadn't brought
our cameras, but since today is sunny we will go back with our cameras and
perhaps the Merlin will still be there so we can get a photo to add to our
neighborhood bird blog: www.raymondalebirds.blogspot.com
Cheers! Beth Fedorko
Falls Church, VA
