My first Merlin

I went to a total of 5 places specifically looking for burrowing owls over the course of two weekends recently and saw nary an owl. Not even a great horned owl, which I see fairly regularly. However, my second trip was made worthwhile by seeing a new raptor at Hudeman Slough: a merlin! Merlins are small falcons: a little bigger than a kestrel. I’ve worked with a few merlins doing wildlife rehab, but I hadn’t seen one in the wild before. Finally: tracking down some bizarre little non-park park looking for raptors paid off!