Check out this Merlin I found while hiking along the Railroad Trail at Point Lookout State Park last week!
While it’s always exciting to see a large raptor, I haven’t had many opportunities to spend time with these small members of the falcon family.

With pointed wings and faded helmet markings, Merlin’s sort of look like mini Peregrine Falcons when viewing them from a distance. I got lucky and was able to creep up slowly in the tall marsh reeds to photograph this one a relatively “close” distance.
Still, it took a 600mm lens zoomed all the way in to capture these photos as Merlin’s have extraordinarily good eyesight. They tend to be rather skittish so getting a proper look at one can be difficult to do before they fly off.

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Although I photographed this one in Maryland, Merlin’s are migratory visitors to North Carolina and generally may be found in the state from September through early November and again from April to mid May.
They are especially prevalent in the OBX during this time of year in the Bodie Island and Pea Island NWR.
Like other falcons such as Kestrels and Peregrines, as seen in these photos they have a habit of perching on the tops of dead trees to survey the landscape below for prey.
Look for them at the edges of any open areas such as agricultural fields, meadows and even marshes hunting for a meal.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my 50 megapixel monster, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds