Yesterday afternoon when I delivered the Golden Eagle print to HawkWatch International for their silent auction fundraiser I was able to meet the newest addition to their stable of education birds.
He’s a spectacular little male Merlin named Jack.
HWI obtained him from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah (WRCNU) where he had been taken because of an injury to his right wing that makes him un-releasable in the wild. Thankfully that injury doesn’t seem to bother him in captivity and about all I noticed was a very slight droop to the wing.
He’s a spectacular little falcon and I instantly fell in love with him. He has lots of personality and has quickly adapted to being handled and cared for. He actually seems to enjoy being “on the glove” and I predict that he’ll have a long, happy life as a pampered education ambassador for HWI. Since he isn’t releasable I can think of nowhere I’d rather have him spend the rest of his life than at HawkWatch. Those folks really know how to properly care for captive raptors.
There are three races or subspecies of Merlin in North America: The very pale Prairie Merlin (Great Plains), the very dark Black Merlin (Pacific Northwest) and the intermediate Tiaga Merlin (Boreal Forest). Even though the Tiaga Merlin is most common most Merlins I’ve seen and photographed have been the pale Prairie Merlins.
But to my untrained eye Jack appears to be an intermediate Taiga Merlin (if I’m wrong please correct me). Just look at those beautiful and striking dark wings – they really captured my attention when I saw Jack, as did his huge, dark eyes.
I had a wonderful visit with old friends at HW, including good friend, blog follower and former teaching colleague Tana Peery Hunter who is now a HW volunteer who helps with the care of their education birds and works with their American Kestrel projects.
I also spent some quality time with our old friend Galileo the Short-eared Owl Mia and I rescued off of barbed wire almost two years ago. Galileo is one of the very few education SEO’s in the country and he has oodles of personality and curiosity on the glove so he’s quite the star and beloved by everyone who cares for him and takes him to his education “performances”. I can imagine his effect on his audiences.
And that makes me very happy, especially when I think of the alternative.
Ron
PS – For these photos I wish I’d asked Education and Outreach Director Nikki Wayment to hold Jack a little further away from the tree in the background so the leaves wouldn’t compete with the bird quite so much. Live and learn…
PSS – After yesterday’s rant on the proposed Donald J. Trump Highway I thought some readers might enjoy seeing this clip from CNN. I certainly did!
Speaking of Merlins, I was out with MY Jack (male HH who is no more mine than the air I breathe) yesterday. We were done, Jack was perched on the luggage rack on the roof of my Jeep and I was about 30 yards from arriving at the Jeep when a female Merlin buzzed Jack and landed on a fence post about five yards from the Jeep!! I wanted to throw him some food, but 1) she didn’t know humans from a hole in the ground, 2) Jack would immediately pounce on any food I’d throw since he expects dinner at the Jeep when we’re done, and c) it just wouldn’t have worked out as I intended. So, I just stopped and gawked until Jack broke the spell and flew over to buzz ME as if to say, “It’s dinner time old woman! Make it happen NOW!” When Jack took flight, the Merlin booked off the other way and was back to her invisible state in about two seconds.
What a serendipitous treat!
Ron, funny you mentioned the leaves in the background. My brain completely blotted them out as I took in the beauty of the Merlin. I just photographed one yesterday as it flew over– as to be expected I got off only one shot before it was a blur. There was no time to adjust the camera so I was lucky to get the image. It showed very large yellow area around the eye, giving it a “Peregrine” look but of course it was way too small and its heavily streaked breast was evident. I must set up some pre-sets for birds in flight as I was photographing a small bird in shade and had turned down the exposure comp a few notches. Wonderful post and it is great that these birds are contributing to peoples’ appreciation of nature.
I’m too late to the party, but love your story. What a beautiful bird who has a good home. Always love to hear about Galileo and the ‘bounce’ it brings to your step. I understand as much as I possibly can of your experience of rescuing him from the barbed wire fence and being able to visit him in his new home with those who love him.
Thank you, Ron
OH MY GOD!!!!! He is just stunning, Ron – just absolutely stunning. I’m go glad you took these photos and posted them; those of us who rarely see Merlin (I’m in Tulsa, OK) have a difficult time imagining their size, how small they actually are. He’s just beyond beautiful….thank you, thanks to Hawk Watch International.
I agree, Leslie – he’s a looker.
SPECTACULAR RON!
charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Sidebar: A Merlin memory from the SF Bay Area. In the ‘70s I lived in a little old house that backed up against Hayward Creek in the East Bay. My next door neighbor kept a garage full of homing pigeons that were exercised regularly. Once, in my back yard, I startled a beautiful little predator devouring one of George’s beloved racing pigeons, the Merlin flew off leaving a drumstick and a mound of downy feathers. After I told my neighbor what I’d seen, he came and picked up the remains and said “a Merlin’s gotta’ eat, too”, but I don’t want him to think this is his cafeteria.”
…always learning from the commenters and you, thanks.
Pretty impressive prey for a Merlin, Susan. I would think pigeons would outweigh them by a fair amount. Interesting story.
What a stunningly beautiful bird!!! The fact that he is “on glove” gives a great view of his actual size…I hadn’t realized how small they are until seeing these images…good news about Galileo is very much appreaciated…you and Mia did good work there!!!
Patty, Merlins are only slightly larger than kestrels so yes they’re quite small. Thank you.
Jack is an absolute beauty. And I am so very glad that you were able to see Galileo too. Three years ago? It doesn’t seem that long. At all.
Smiled at the clip too, but mourned its necessity. And yet another Trump inspired waste of money.
EC, it wasn’t 3 years ago, it was less than 2. And yes, it was pure joy to see Galileo again.
Beautiful male, he looks like he has vim, vigor and character!
Calm before the storm here!
You’ve been hammered by those storms, Dick. Good luck!
Gorgeous bird! And it’s nice to hear positive human and wildlife interaction tales for a change.
Yes, it surely is, Joanne!
Merlins are just gorgeous! If I lived in Texas or any other where that attracted the bazillions of starlings during the winter, I’d be sorely tempted to fly one of these outrageously interesting raptors. It makes me smile when I see a cloud of starlings doing that murmuration thing, knowing that they’re being chased by a raptor, perhaps most often a Merlin. However, a falconer friend has been sharing his escapades with a female Merlin, and while she’s relentless in making those murmurations happen, the falconer routinely has to use his telemetry to find her with her catch. And given that she’s often hidden in a pile of dead leaves where she dons an invisibility cloak, it can be a major challenge. I’m not overly fond of telemetry adventures.
Jack is an appropriate name for this beauty since according to ancient falconry language, male Merlins are called Jacks, breaking from the tradition of terming the male longwings tiercels (roughly translated from the French meaning 1/3 smaller. Toyota borrowed the term for their Tercel model). I’d love to travel back in time to learn why that tradition broke with Merlins, but alas, that’s not available (to my knowledge). There are other departures from tradition(s) with gyrkin (male gyrfalcon) and another that’s currently eluding my real-time intelligence. It’s in there somewhere, but evidently it’s way back in the back of the belfry–with the bats. It will show up when I least expect it, but certainly after the subject in discussion has moved onward and it’s no longer pertinent.
“Toyota borrowed the term for their Tercel model”
That thought immediately popped into my head the moment I read “tiercel!” 🙂
🙂 I’m a little weird–OK, a LOT weird–but I just love the ancient and arcane falconry language. It’s so expressive and sometimes bizarre, but I just love it! The other departure from tiercel hasn’t yet scooted through my consciousness. When it does, I’ll be sure to share it. Just gotta wait for it to come around again on the gui-tar!
I didn’t know about the connection between male Merlins and Toyota either. Thanks for that bit of info, Laura.
If I remember correctly (and I think I do) Nikki said that they named him Jack because of that old name for male Merlins.
If a bird can have soulful eyes… Wonderful shots of a beautiful bird. The second shot is so cool! It warms my heart to hear about Galileo too. Were you able to get any shots of him?
I enjoyed the clip. Unfortunately, I don’t know that any kind of national coverage is going to affect a state leg as tone deaf as Utah’s seems to be.
Marty, no I didn’t get any photos of Galileo. HW recently supplied him with a very natural looking “hiding place” and he seemed to be enjoying it while I was there so I didn’t want to disturb him.
I loved seeing Jack–he’s a most handsome critter—I especially admire his very large and luminous eyes. Thanks also for the CNN clip ; can’t say it made me actually laugh, but I’m
hoping that such national coverage will make at least SOME members of the legislature aware of what a laughingstock the state of Utah will be nationally if they actually pass this ridiculous,
fawning, obsequious ( synonyms fail me ) piece of legislation .
Kris, Our governor is a little reluctant to support this bill and when asked won’t say he won’t veto it if it passes (and he’s a republican!). So maybe there’s a chance that the bill will meet a very deserved demise.
As a fellow member of HWI, I say thank you for your donation of the beautiful photo for a good cause. And thank you for the lovely photos of Jack 🙂
I’m delighted to know you’re a HW supporter, Zaph. They’re great folks who do wonderful work.
Wow! Jack is stunning! Thanks for the update.
You’re very welcome, Diane.
Jack’s a beauty – I was just taking pictures of a Merlin Falcon at our Lynx Lake a couple days back. We have another one at Willow Lake who sometimes sits on the top of a dead tree that is most often used by resting eagles.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott Arizona
You’re lucky to have two of them close by, Everett. I don’t see them very often at all.
Jack is a gorgeous little bird! 🙂 Prairie Falcons are, of course, what I’ve seen here. Sounds like a wonderful visit with old friends and Galileo to boot. 🙂 It’s amazing how they do adapt to captivity and SO glad both Galileo and Jack have. 🙂 Link is great getting it “out there” 😉
Judy, some raptors seem to adapt to captivity significantly better than others. Thankfully both Galileo and Jack are handling it in excellent fashion.
Thanks for introducing Jack, Ron. Beautiful little falcon!
You’re welcome, Frank.