On my way home this afternoon, I saw a larger bird in a tree along the side of Good Hope Rd. As I drove past, I realized it was a Merlin! I turned around and luckily, there was enough shoulder for me to pull off on. I stopped right alongside of it, on the opposite side of the street. I thought for sure it would fly, like they always do, but it didn’t! As soon as I got my camera on it, I saw it had just snagged a bird. Wow, what perfect timing! As it flipped the bird around, I could see that it was a junco. I sat there in my truck, snapping hundreds of photos, trying not to miss any of the action. When it was all finished, I managed to take just over 1000 photos! I was amazed that it didn’t pay any attention to me, rather only looking around occasionally, to make it was safe from other predators. Once the junco was consumed, I drove off and the Merlin was still sitting in the tree. I’m sure glad I had my camera with me! Images below are from today, but beware, they are not for the faint-hearted! Enjoy!!!
Raptors at the Franklin Landfill in February
February turned out to be an excellent month for viewing raptors at the Franklin Landfill, in Milwaukee County. Bald Eagles were plentiful, with 11 being seen on the 15th. Two of them flew around, performing quite an acrobatic show. It was very cool to watch and photograph. Also during the month, up to 15 Red-tailed Hawks were seen, many just soaring on the sides of the hill, in the up drafts of the wind. They would just hover, flipping their wingtips up and down to stay in one place. Also present were, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Northern Harrier, 2 American Kestrels and 1 Northern Shrike. I was able to see the Rough-legged Hawk go down to the ground and catch mice several times. A couple of bites and back in the air it went. The shrike was one of the more tame shrikes I’ve ever seen. Usually you can’t get within 50 yards of one, but this one let me a lot closer! That was really exciting! I spent many days there during the month, while taking over 10000 photos, trying to catch all of the action happening. The photos below are from my visits during the month.
