![\"merlin](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merlin-6250-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a01\/400, f\/9, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or\u00a0 called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Friday morning as we\u00a0left camp it\u00a0was\u00a0incredibly cold for the first half of September –\u00a0a couple of minutes before we came across this bird I noticed that it was 11 degrees Fahrenheit (as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, one of the water pipes in my camping trailer was frozen solid that morning – not fun…).\u00a0 Many birds tend to be “stickier” when it’s cold and I’m sure that’s why this Merlin allowed such a close approach (in my pickup along a dirt\/gravel road).\u00a0 The sun had just come up so the light was low and the bird had its back to us so\u00a0at first I didn’t even notice that it had prey.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/500, f\/9, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or\u00a0 called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n But when it flew to another nearby fence post the prey became obvious – it’s a\u00a0 small bird but I’m not sure of the species.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/400, f\/13, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or\u00a0 called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n When the Merlin began to feed it quickly became\u00a0apparent that the prey was frozen solid.\u00a0 I could even hear the soft\u00a0“clinking” sound of its bill on the frozen flesh.\u00a0 Because the bird was frozen and the sun had just come up I suspect that the prey had been cached the night before (they are known to cache food during the breeding season and in winter).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/160, f\/10, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or\u00a0 called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Then, as the Merlin began to feed, \u00a0almost in an instant we were enveloped by thick fog.\u00a0 The fog in the Centennial Valley is almost mystical – it seems to be alive and is very unpredictable.\u00a0 Less than an hour before sunrise there often is no fog at all\u00a0but it forms over the lakes\u00a0very quickly and can be like\u00a0thick soup when we leave camp at dawn a short while later.\u00a0 If I’d been another 30 feet or so from this bird I’d have barely been able to see it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/400, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or\u00a0 called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n At one point the little falcon picked off a leg…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n