Following a report by Don Miller of a Merlin in Greene County on Jan 11, I decided to check Oak Hill Cemetery today (Jan 12) to see if I could scare up a Merlin over this way where we had one a couple of years ago. I drove into the cemetery around 4:45 pm and drove to the north side where I could easily scan the tops of the tall conifers where I had seen a Merlin in the past. Sure enough there sat a fat little Merlin in the top of a tall spruce tree. With the overcast skies it was already so dark I could only see an outline with naked eyes. I checked him out with binocs and started to get my video camera out of the car when I noticed another Merlin sitting in a spruce-top just thirty or so yards away. Both birds sat, preened, and stretched for thirty minutes while I took video (in near dark conditions). A car stopped and someone got out to visit at a graveside within 30 feet of the tree where one Merlin sat. The bird only looked down and stretched a wing. Same sort of relaxed behavior I saw from the bird that was here a couple of years ago. They were still perched in the treetops when I left at around 5:15 pm. I did get some video and will get a clip up on the net after while. Thanks Don, for reminding me to look. Bill, this might be a possibility for tomorrows field trip, weather permitting. I can't go as I have to work, but just drive into the cemetery and look in the tops of any tall conifers. As I recall I have had the best luck early in the morning and at dusk on clear days. Seems I remember one rainy day the bird from a couple of years ago hung out around the same perch just about all day. Oak Hill Cemetery is in north Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee off of Lynn Garden Drive above the Dairy Queen. Rick Phillips Kingsport, Tennessee