{"id":16006,"date":"2014-09-28T06:33:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T12:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16006"},"modified":"2024-02-15T06:30:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T13:30:30","slug":"a-merlin-prey-and-fog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/28\/a-merlin-prey-and-fog\/","title":{"rendered":"Merlin, Prey and Fog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to photograph a Merlin two mornings in a row in the Centennial Valley of Montana, once in low light and once as a fog rolled in. The morning\u00a0that I photographed this Merlin\u00a0was\u00a0cold and the fog rolled in from the lake a few miles away.<\/p>\n

\"MerlinMerlin with prey in golden light – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited or set up<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Merlin had prey that appeared to have been cached because it was frozen and because it had prey it seemed less skittish. The light at first was beautiful, warm and golden.<\/p>\n

\"MerlinMerlin with prey as the fog starts to roll in\u00a0– Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited or set up<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Three frames later the fog muted the warm light. The fog moved in like a wave and soon the sun appeared to be a ghostly orb hanging in the eastern sky.<\/p>\n

\"MerlinMerlin with prey in fog\u00a0– Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/160, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited or set up<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after it was difficult to obtain sharp focus on the Merlin because of the density of the fog but I liked the images of the Merlin in\u00a0both the golden light and the fog.<\/p>\n

I am not sure exactly what the prey was that the Merlin was eating, at first I thought it might be a Western Meadowlark and then wondered if it was a Meadowlark or a sparrow. It really doesn’t matter much what it was just that the Merlin had enough prey for energy on that bitter morning to survive.<\/p>\n

I do know that a Merlin<\/span><\/a>, prey and fog made for an exciting experience in the Centennial Valley of Montana. I’m delighted that I spotted this falcon.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Merlin photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to photograph a Merlin two mornings in a row in the Centennial Valley of Montana, once in low light and once as a fog rolled in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,1182,12],"tags":[4004,2663,4297,4078,4279,898,4175,3984,4296,4295,4104,4106,11852,153,2315,5434,8917],"class_list":["post-16006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-merlins","category-montana","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-falco-columbarius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-fence-post","tag-fog","tag-foggy","tag-merlin","tag-merlins","tag-perched","tag-prey","tag-ranchlands","tag-raptors","tag-summer-3","tag-valley","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-prey-fog-mia-mcpherson-8306.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4aa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28246,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/13\/a-centennial-valley-merlin\/","url_meta":{"origin":16006,"position":0},"title":"Centennial Valley Merlin","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't often have the opportunity to photograph Merlins so I was plenty excited to find one yesterday on the South Valley Road in the Centennial Valley that stuck around for a bit!","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Merlin and its prey in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-prey-mia-mcpherson-9498.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-prey-mia-mcpherson-9498.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-prey-mia-mcpherson-9498.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-prey-mia-mcpherson-9498.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16472,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/01\/prairie-merlin\/","url_meta":{"origin":16006,"position":1},"title":"Prairie Merlin","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw a fleeting glimpse of a bird a few days ago that I suspect was a Merlin that migrated to winter here in Utah and it inspired me to post a few Merlin images today.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Merlin and prey, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead 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a teaser for the images I will soon be posting.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Merlin, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merlin-low-light-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-6640.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merlin-low-light-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-6640.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merlin-low-light-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-6640.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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