FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Merlin at Oak Hill Cemetery

["Rick Phillips" <sunfish0501@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was out early yesterday morning watching a Cooper's Hawk finishing up her 
nest at Oak Hill Cemetery here in Kingsport.  I was looking through the 
viewfinder of my video camera when I heard a bunch of starlings squawk about a 
100 yards up on top of a hill from where I was.  I looked over just in time to 
see a small raptor (who had just busted through the flock of starlings 
apparently) sail into a tree on the hilltop.  It was quite distant but my first 
reaction (almost before I even looked at the bird) was "there goes the male 
Coop looking for some breakfast".  But, I had one of those feelings you get 
sometime that something just wasn't right and I felt like I needed to go check 
out that bird.  Not wanting to move the camera and scope I had set up on the 
Cooper's Hawk nest, I just decided to walk over far enough to see if I could 
get a good enough look at the bird to confirm a Cooper's Hawk.  There were a 
lot of small twigs between me and the bird so I had to get pretty close to see 
the bird.  When I finally got a look I was quite surprised to see a very pale 
colored Merlin perched in the tree.  It was much lighter in color than a Merlin 
I had seen here a couple of years ago.  Must have been the Prairie race.  I ran 
back over to get the video camera and of course by the time I got to the camera 
I looked back to see the Merlin flying back over the top of the hill and off 
towards the new Holston Medical Group and Welmont complex on Stone Drive.  
Guess it always pays to take a second look.

Rick

Rick Phillips
Kingsport, Tennessee