Merlin

Sunday - December 11th

One of the things that makes birding fun is that you never know what you'll find at any given time.  Dawn was breaking as I headed home from work this morning. Was considering doing some birding instead of heading home for sleep.  But being arrears on my sleep, I elected to just check out my spot on Domestic Street on the way home. Tons of American Coots  were spread across the ponds there.  A couple of Redhead ducks continued to seen here, plus a few Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaups as well. Not much else was around, but as I was scanning the ponds a small raptor flew right into my line of sight and settled on a fence post. Cool.  It was a Merlin. I had not seen a merlin at this sight before. The presence of the falcon could explain way I could not find any sparrows or palm warblers. This bird remanded seated for a few minutes and then flew into the brush further down the road.  Must have spotted a candidate for breakfast.

Headed home to find a large flock of White Ibis foraging on my block. Counted about forty-five ibis.  They are surprisingly tolerant of traffic.  These are our yard birds.  The robins should be arriving sooner or later, but the White Ibis are cool to see. I had an acquaintance down in Naples who's family descended from early south Florida pioneers. These folks had to live off the land and sea, as the only access back then was by boat. No roads existed.  My understanding was that they referred to the ibis as Chokoloske Chickens. It took about four birds per person for a meal and that the 'Bronze-wings' or juveniles made for better eating.  They are protected know.  .

As I was walking the dogs and watching the ibis', a trio of Muscovy Ducks flew right over head. They are large birds in flight and were followed by a Great Crested Flycatcher, who settled in a neighbors tree.  Like I said, you never know what you'll find.