I stopped by Riverview Park in Charlottesville this morning and walked some
of the Rivanna Trail. This is a site on the VDGIF piedmont birding trail
and directions can be found at their website
(http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/vbwt/trail.asp?trail=3). Anyway, I
was rather surprised to find a female Merlin along the trail north of the
park where the river turns sharply to the right. There is a wide sandbar on
the opposite bank at this site. The bird was perched in the crown of tree
on the Albemarle County side of the river. I was initially hopeful that the
bird would cross into Charlottesville at some point. After waiting a solid
45 minutes a group of four Common Ravens crossed the river, and when two of
them double backed to harass the Merlin, I thought that the bird would
surely take flight. In spite of much croaking and acrobatics the Ravens
were unable to convince the Merlin to move on and they kept moving up the
powerline cut. After another 15 minutes I started my walk back with the
bird still squarely in the county. I'm keeping year lists for both the City
of Charlottesville and Albemarle County on Sue Heath's website
(www.virginiabirding.org), so if you happen to see the Merlin on the
Charlottesville side of the Rivanna or find anything else of interest please
let me know. Incidentally, it seems that the Merlin has been spending some
time in Charlottesville as I found a likely roost spot along the Rivanna
Trail with plenty of whitewash and passerine feathers. I think it might
stick around for a while.
Alex Merritt
Charlottesville, VA
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