I had a Merlin on Labor Day in western Fauquier County (Linden, VA).
I heard a bunch of Blue Jays going crazy calling and "jaying" so I looked
around for whatever it was that got them so excited. I spotted a Sharp Shinned
flying by, but it was pretty high up and I figured it was too far away to get
the jays so excited. As I looked around the sky some more a dark,
pointy-winged blur went whizzing by and around a corner. I ran over to get a
better look and the dark blur came back at me, but this time it was chasing
another Sharpie. The Sharpie got away and the dark blur circled around again
and perched on the tallest tree around.
At this point I was pretty sure it was a Merlin (dark, fast and aggressive) but
all my views had the bird between me and the sun, so when he perched I was able
to creep around the tree and get the sun behind me and get a great view of an
adult male Merlin.
I never saw it nab a bird but it made lots of attempts at a few Flickers in the
area.
Bart Hutchinson
Alexandria, VA
