Merlin with Prey..super happy!

[brewmaster15]

Its been real slim pickings photography wise for me... its just too darn cold for most of my locations. Went out yesterday and everything was frozen... There was no open water for ducks and what was there was way out there...plus it was cold. with wind chill by the ocean we in the negatives.The wind actually hurt and I'm no whimp with the out doors. Defeated for the day I was driving out of my favorite stomping ground, Hammonasset State Park and off to the right I caught a flash of red.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird, Did a u turn and pulled over. These were shot from my car. Oh happy Days! Nailed a set of pics of a Merlin, smaller cousin to Peregrin falcons. It had caught a European Starling. I have only seen Merlins in flight at a distance and have no images . This was for me an awesome find.


Merlin (Falco columbarius) by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

_AJS7114 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

_AJS7159 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

_AJS7186 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

Merlin (Falco columbarius) by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

Merlin (Falco columbarius) by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

Apologies on this last one, but a birds gotta eat too,

Merlin (Falco columbarius) by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

[Second Hand Pat]

And I’m super jealous Al, really nice captures.
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

Amazing! What a keen eye you must have to have noticed it!

[Jandiscus]

Hey Al - awesome pics. What camera are you using?

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Pat, Liz and Jan!

Hey Al - awesome pics. What camera are you using?

I'm using a Nikon d500 there for the first few and a Nikon D7500 for the last pic...lens is a Nikon 200-500

al

[danotaylor]

Crackin pics mate! Stunning!

[wsantia1]

Those are some great photos Al.

[Iminit]

Must be a difference with city and country birds! I’ve got a lot of Merlin and many other birds of prey by me. Thing is if these guys see a camera they’re gone! I had a Cooper’s hawk land right in front of me. Within 10 feet while walking my dogs. I reached for my phone and it took off. This is it in a near by tree. It’s the black dot under the plane .211B1083-EDEF-444E-A731-155C1A1CC7D2.jpg
Lol there’s the pic .

[brewmaster15]

Thanks guys!

Must be a difference with city and country birds! I’ve got a lot of Merlin and many other birds of prey by me. Thing is if these guys see a camera they’re gone! I had a Cooper’s hawk land right in front of me. Within 10 feet while walking my dogs. I reached for my phone and it took off. This is it in a near by tree. It’s the black dot under the plane .

Probably No difference at all Tom. Taking pics of predatory birds is hard.. they are wary by nature... most of the time I have to painstakenly stalk it ..it can take 10-20mins or longer to get close enough. Ihave missed way more shots than I care to remember! But sometimes you luck out. A car is an awesome blind. Most birds do not notice you in a car. ..so this one was not spooked. I would guess I took several hundred pics over a 15 min period.

[Pingco's Discus]

Hi Al, nice shots!!!

[brewmaster15]

Hi Al, nice shots!!!

Thank you Ping!

Al