Merlins are assholes

 Merlins are cool birds.  And they eat birds for a living, so should we be surprised they're constantly strafing each other and whatever they can find, from gulls to jays to kestrels to bats to any small airborne creature?

In this vid watch one barrel roll and nearly loop the loop after a passerine, and then full frame with a Nashville it caught over the lake.  After that let's play chicken with Blue Jays!

Fall Forster's vs Common Terns

These are REALLY similar.  And some of the things we use to separate Forster's Tern from Common Tern in the spring won't work in the fall.  Let's talk about how to separate these two birds!

 

point blank Buff-breasted Sandpiper

 We were lucky enough to have a juvie Buff-breasted Sandpiper land in front of us during Tuesday Morning Birding.  And I do mean RIGHT in front of us, click the link for the vid and the discussion!