History Repeats Itself

Scott: "Wasn't it two years ago at Notre Dame that we saw a Merlin?"
Lindsay: "Yeah... I was at work, so I didn't get to see it."
Scott: "It was just as we pulled into the parking lot."

(Pulling into parking lot...)
Scott: "The Merlin was on that small tree."

(Passing the small tree...)
Scott: "Look! There's the Merlin!"


When Lindsay and I headed to University of Notre Dame this morning to join South Bend-Elkhart Audubon Society on a field trip to look at waterfowl, seeing a Merlin (Falco columbarius) never even crossed my mind. I was pretty sure that the one we saw in the parking lot off of Dorr Road (Scott: "You make a better Dorr than a Road!) two years ago was a freak occurrence. I guess not. Now, I wonder if this bird winters here every year. What a great first bird for a field trip!

In the photograph below, note two of the identifying characteristics on this otherwise somewhat nondescript raptor: the weak mustache and the white eyebrow.


But we weren't done. Brian Miller and I later joked that had the weather been like it was the past couple of days, we would probably have been the only two to show up for the field trip, and we probably would have left after seeing the Merlin. The mid-30 degree Farenheit temperatures on this sunny February day were perfect for a two-hour walk around St. Joseph's Lake.


Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos, in the background of the photograph above) were by far the most abundant species on the lake, but one of our highlight birds was the migrant in the foreground above, Redhead (Aythya americana). Interestingly, female Redheads lay their eggs in the nests of other Redheads or other ducks, supposedly often in the nests of the somewhat similar looking and related Canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria).


The number of Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser, in the photograph above) on the lake was quite impressive. I counted 81, but I am sure that I missed some. We often see Common Mergansers on St. Joseph's Lake in the winter, but not in these numbers. When Brian, Lindsay, and I did the Indiana Mid-winter Waterfowl Count at Notre Dame earlier this year, we didn't see any Common Mergansers.


One of the most handsome ducks, in my opinion, is the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus, above). It must be the afro, as Lindsay calls it. This species is somewhat of a staple at St. Joseph's Lake.


The most common gull that we saw on the lake today was Herring Gull (Larus argentatus, or L. smithsonianus, if you choose to split the European Herring Gull from the American Herring Gull). The immature Herring Gull in the photograph above has the characteristic pink legs and thick bill. Adult Herring Gulls have a white body with a gray back and wings, black and white wingtips, and a yellow bill with a red spot on the lower mandible.


We only saw one Mute Swan (Cygnus olor, above) on the lake. Visiting St. Joseph's Lake, you can usually count on seeing at least one of this attractive Eurasian species.

Our complete list of species observed during the field trip follows:

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Domestic Duck
American Black Duck
Mallard
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Cooper's Hawk
Merlin
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
House Finch

Not Your Everyday Raptor

It's really too bad that I don't truly know how to use a camera, because I had a great opportunity today to photograph an uncommon raptor.

The South Bend-Elkhart Audubon Society had a field trip this morning at Notre Dame to hike around the two lakes, primarily looking for ducks. After first driving up to Riverview Cemetery in South Bend and watching 6 White-winged Crossbills feed on spruce, I met up with Brian Miller and group of field trippers. I turned onto Dorr Drive at Notre Dame and had to stop before turning into the parking lot because a minivan in front of me was stopped in the road. I waited for a bit, beginning to get impatient. Finally, the van pulled into the parking lot. It was only then that I realized that the van was carrying birders, and that there was a raptor perched on the top of a small tree along the edge of the parking lot. I quickly pulled into the parking lot and jumped out of the car, binoculars in hand. I first noticed that this was a smaller raptor, then noticed the brown streaking on the breast, then noticed the banded tail, and then noticed a weak mustache. I quickly blurted out, "is that a Merlin?!?," and sure enough, it was!

I have only seen a Merlin (Falco columbarius) once before today, and that was several years ago at Kingsbury Fish and Wildlife Area. As the latin name suggests, a Merlin is a type of falcon. At 10 inches long, they are larger than the related American Kestrel (9 inches), but smaller than the Peregrine Falcon (16 inches). Their breeding range is throughout Alaska and Canada, barely dipping into very northern parts of the lower 48, where they inhabit open woods and prairies. They are apparently beginning to move into more urban areas, and there is some evidence that their numbers are increasing. Merlins typically winter further south in the United States, and are only mapped in this area during migration (although they are known to winter here). Like other falcons, Merlins catch their prey (typically small birds, small mammals, reptiles, or insects like dragoflies and moths) on the wing. This agile predator had just finished eating, and really didn't care at all that we were standing underneath it, within 50 feet.

I really do apologize for the poor photos, but I couldn't resist posting about this stealthy falcon.