Merlin and more raptors coming back

I mentioned in this post on the Stratford Point controlled burn that the Bald Eagle that flew over may have been a returning migrant as it moved in the correct direction and we do not often see them fly over in such a manner. Last week I also had this Merlin show up at Stratford Point, and having not had one for over two months, I presume this bird was also on the move back north.

It sat in the White-tailed Kite's old tree doing absolutely nothing else, likely tired from a journey back to New England and resting up for another one to who knows where. It was not there in the morning, only the mid-afternoon, and may well have flown in. We often see such birds at Stratford Point, and in the past I have observed them coming up the coastline and landing here, or even out from the middle of Long Island Sound. Last year I recall an American Kestrel zooming in from out over the water and landing on one of our telephone poles.

It is a very good time to see some of these falcons and others returning to known areas or passing by migrant traps. Get your kestrel boxes up now!


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician
 
All photos © Scott Kruitbosch and not to be reproduced without explicit permission