{"id":16472,"date":"2014-11-01T07:13:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T13:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16472"},"modified":"2024-02-15T03:45:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T10:45:47","slug":"prairie-merlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/01\/prairie-merlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Prairie Merlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. Merlins do not breed here in Utah but they do breed in Montana which is where I photographed this Prairie Merlin.<\/p>\n

\"MerlinMerlin and prey – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I found the Merlin two days in a row in the same general location and both times it was very cooperative. The second morning it had prey that appeared to be frozen so it might have been cached. It was in the low teens that morning.<\/p>\n

\"MerlinMerlin in low light – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/160, ISO 1000, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The first morning the light was low and there were clouds blocking the best light from the sun but I could not resist taking images since it is not every day; or even every month, that I have the opportunity to photograph this fierce little falcon. Another name for Merlins is “Pigeon Hawk” even though it is a falcon and not a hawk.<\/p>\n

There are three different populations of Merlins and they differ in overall color, the darkness and shape of the mask, the width of the dark tail-bands and the color of their backs. This bird is the Prairie subspecies, the other two are Pacific and Taiga.<\/p>\n

The calls of Merlins<\/a><\/span> remind me of the calls of American Kestrels<\/a><\/span> but they are different enough that I could tell them apart by just listening.<\/p>\n

I hope that I will be able to photograph some Merlins this winter because not only are they handsome I also find them very interesting. It would be great to capture them on the wing as they hunt for prey.<\/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":"

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99387,"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":[4004,2663,4297,2730,12623,4078,4279,4070,898,11071,156,4296,4295,4104,4233,4106,11852,153,2315,5434,8917],"class_list":["post-16472","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-falco-columbarius-richardsoni","tag-falco-columbarius-richardsonii","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-female","tag-fence-post","tag-fierce","tag-low-light-2","tag-merlin","tag-merlins","tag-perched","tag-prairie","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-perched-prey-mia-mcpherson-8255.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4hG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4225,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/01\/27\/merlin-perched-in-a-tree-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":16472,"position":0},"title":"Merlin Perched In A Tree ~ Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Merlins are winter visitors in the Salt Lake Valley so I have just a few more weeks to attempt photographing them. Merlins are used to be called \"pigeon hawks\" because their shape and flight patterns are similar to pigeons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"High key Merlin, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.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-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-mia-mcpherson-8382.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59469,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/13\/poof-utahs-merlins-could-disappear\/","url_meta":{"origin":16472,"position":1},"title":"Poof: Utah’s Merlins Could Disappear","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In my experience Merlins are already hard to find in the state of Utah but because of our climate crisis they could become even more difficult to locate or they might even disappear from the state altogether.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Merlin with prey at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-marsh-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-3052.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-marsh-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-marsh-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-marsh-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15821,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/13\/merlin-magic\/","url_meta":{"origin":16472,"position":2},"title":"Merlin Magic","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a short Merlin post today from my Montana trip, 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 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28246,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/13\/a-centennial-valley-merlin\/","url_meta":{"origin":16472,"position":3},"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, 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There isn't a single day in the field where I take my eyesight and my keen spotting abilities for granted and yesterday those attributes netted me not one but two Merlins while I was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Merlin with prey on the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/merlin-spring-prey-mia-mcpherson-3009.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-spring-prey-mia-mcpherson-3009.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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