OT: An Interesting Encounter

[papabear1]

I really enjoyed the story, " BUT " beeing from down here in, Missouri, I have never heard of a Merlin, and the Dumb Ars question is,,,,,,
Is a Merlin in the Hawk family ??

Dave

I did a little quick research and discovered that merlins have been seen all over Missouri but are not common. Kestrels are much more common and you (and I) may have seen a merlin and thought it was a kestrel(they look pretty similar.

You are right, i have seen Kestrel, quite recently actually,
next time i see one i will look at it with more attention,
It might be a Merlin,

Thanks Grouse
Dave

[papabear1]

Funny thing is about 2 miles from my place a fellow i know put in a free rangeing chicken
operation, and every time i go by i noticed i was seeing more Redtail Hawks, Bald Eagles,
and Bobcats,
and you can see feather piles everywhere, i guess when there is 6,000 chckens running around
you can expect to lose some, I call it the Chicken Smorgasboard.

Dave

[papabear1]

I really enjoyed the story, " BUT " beeing from down here in, Missouri, I have never heard of a Merlin, and the Dumb Ars question is,,,,,,
Is a Merlin in the Hawk family ??

Dave

Answer to my own question ,
I see from other post that a Merlin is in the,
Falcon family.
Never too old to learn.

Dave

Dave the Merlin is indeed a member of the Falcon family...

Merlin pic below...



The American Kestrel is also a member of the Falcon family, but most people refer to them as a Hawk...

And this is the Kestrel...



Regardless of what family they belong to, they are very efficient hunters!!

Back many, many years ago when Nobles actually hunted with Falcons, the Merlin was called a "Lady Hawk" due to it's small size.
The Kestrel has been referred to as a "Pigeon Hawk".

I was sitting in a tree stand a few years back and actually had a Great Horned Owl come and pluck a rabbit off the ground not 30 yards from my stand. He swooped on that rabbit and pounded it a couple of times with those huge talons of his. Once he was satisfied it was dead, he made one hop and with a silent wing beat, he and the rabbit were gone.
If I had NOT seen him, I would have never heard him!!
Nature at its BEST!!

Birds of Prey are just neat!!!

Beutifull Birds
Thanks for posting the pics. and info.
like i said, never too old to learn

Dave

[xcaliber]

Yep, what Dave said.

[AJ01]

Back many, many years ago when Nobles actually hunted with Falcons, the Merlin was called a "Lady Hawk" due to it's small size.
The Kestrel has been referred to as a "Pigeon Hawk".

The Merlin has been called both a Lady Hawk (coincidentally the name of my white phase Redtail back in the day) and Pigeon Hawk.

The noticeably smaller Kestrel is more commonly known as the Sparrow Hawk.

Regardless of what we call them, they certainly are fascinating creatures!

Cheers,
Nog

Yeppers...down here in Texas we call them Sparrow Hawks too. I just thought the rest of the civilized world called them Pigeon Hawks!!

Anywho...they are ALL neat predators!!!

[AJ01]

Yep, what Dave said.

Just the kind of stuff that rubs off on you when your best bud is a Curator at a large Zoo!!

[IronNoggin]

I'll relate another encounter along somewhat similar lines...

I was out hunting pheasants with my dog in Southern Alberta. Driving from one area to another I spied a large group (several hundred) Canada Geese feeding right alongside an irrigation ditch. I instantly recognized that if the dog and I went up the ditch we would be out of their sight and could get basically right on top of them. So off we went to give it a try...

Got a couple hundred yards into the stalk when the horrendous noise (like thunder) of rapidly beating wings accompanied by the honks of hundreds of panicky geese ensued. Tiptoed up the bank just in time to see four geese break off from the main body and head our way. But the 4th actually wasn't a goose, rather a peregrine in a tail chase on the three larger birds. Ducking and weaving constantly, they were soon rather close. Just as the geese got over the berm edge, all three simply folded their wings and dropped into the water right in front of me with heavy crashing thuds. The falcon swung back towards the larger flock, not to be seen again.

I grinned at the dog, and thought to myself Out of the claws of one predator, and right smack into those of another. All three decided to come home with me and those grain fed wonders were certainly delicious!

Cheers,
Nog

[papabear1]

Back many, many years ago when Nobles actually hunted with Falcons, the Merlin was called a "Lady Hawk" due to it's small size.
The Kestrel has been referred to as a "Pigeon Hawk".

The Merlin has been called both a Lady Hawk (coincidentally the name of my white phase Redtail back in the day) and Pigeon Hawk.

The noticeably smaller Kestrel is more commonly known as the Sparrow Hawk.

Regardless of what we call them, they certainly are fascinating creatures!

Cheers,
Nog

Yeppers...down here in Texas we call them Sparrow Hawks too. I just thought the rest of the civilized world called them Pigeon Hawks!!

Anywho...they are ALL neat predators!!!

Every one of those names are familiar to me,
have heard them called that many times.

Dave

[elkaholic]

Use to watch a neighborhood sparrow hawk dive full speed into the trees. Mostly after pigeons.

Even named one Swoop!

Super cool little hawks.

[flightattendant100]

Two stories, both happened to me and both are legit! I set up a new bow stand one year in a huge oak tree. It had a giant canopy, but was fairly open inside the canopy. I got a stand on and steps up to it and trimmed a couple of "windows" in the canopy. It was overlooking a cross fence that the deer traveled. Opening morning of archery season, I was up really early as I like to be in stand and quiet at least an hour before legal shooting time. Our opener is almost always warm or down right hot so I was early enough to allow for a S L O W walk in. I had gotten in the stand and situated and was trying to be as still as is humanly possible. Long before daylight, something caught my eye in one of the openings. It was close and Large! It had a huge wingspan, set its wings and came in one of the openings in the canopy and lit on a branch about 6' from me. It was a Large owl. Its head was moving up and down, side to side looking at me like WTF is that and what is it doing here? It didnt take it long to decide that i wasnt prey and opened its wings and glided off. This whole process it never made one sound! It was absolutely quiet! Just silent! How something that size can fly and not make noise is beyond my comprehension, but after it was over I thought it was cool as heck!
Second story, I was on my way home from the lease. I was headed east on I20 approaching the Brazos River, when a streak came from above my truck on right side ,across front and down on my left side to the median. It was a Redtail Hawk, it was close like I thought it was going to be a hood ornament close. Close enough that it makes your heart race. It hit the ground on the median and was back in the air in a split second carrying a field mouse in its talons. I cant believe it got that close to my truck but it was sure fun to get to see it( after my heart got back to normal). The part about hunting that amazes me most are the normal everyday actions of nature.

[AJ01]

Had this image on a trail came. Pretty neat to see the Great Horned Owl!!