Merlins were in fine form last week at a couple of locations. This one landed on a sign next to me at a local marsh where I had stopped to wait for Short-eared Owls to take flight, and considered me to be part of the landscape, even though I was out of the car and moving. It sallied out many times at great speed to nail dragonflies and return to its post. Unlike Peregrines, Merlins almost always seem to fly at or near their top speed, which is comparable to that of Peregrine maximums in horizontal flight.
Another Merlin encounter occurred at a local park where one was repeatedly attacking individual crows and sometimes the whole group of 6-7 for about 20 chaotic minutes. Before meeting the crows, the Merlin had been flying around frenetically at altitude . I suspect that a crow might have harassed it at the perch before it declared war on the group because these little magicians become extremely pugnacious and unrelenting when challenged by crows. There was a lot of crow noise and panic in these encounters and, entertainingly, the Merlin also allowed a couple of Keystone Cop reversals in the air before rocketing off or turning the tables back again.
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