![\"merlin](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merlin-5776-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEarlier his month I had two encounters with a Merlin on consecutive early mornings at almost the same location in the Centennial Valley of Montana.\u00a0 These images were taken the first morning.<\/p>\n
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1\/160, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n We had\u00a0left camp at sunrise and found the Merlin on an old fence post just a few minutes later near the western boundary of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.\u00a0 In my experience these birds are usually extremely difficult to approach but this one was “stickier” than\u00a0normal because it was\u00a0unusually cold and the light was still quite low.\u00a0 It was right next to the road and as I approached very slowly\u00a0in my pickup my heart was in my throat\u00a0for fear the little\u00a0falcon would fly off into the distance but this\u00a0wonderful bird\u00a0just watched me carefully.\u00a0 And stuck.\u00a0 It was like an unexpected\u00a0gift from the photography gods.<\/p>\n Light on the low\u00a0clouds and\u00a0lake\u00a0fog behind me produced a double catch-light in most of the images of this bird.\u00a0 Some folks clone one of them out but since they’re natural I tend to leave both of them in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n In fact, in some of the images the double catch lights were vertical to each other and one of them was rose-colored which I assume was an effect from the color in the clouds behind me.\u00a0 The image is soft and noisy but it demonstrates my point.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/100, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Beyond some different head angles the Merlin never did give me much\u00a0pose variety but I was able to get some different backgrounds by moving my pickup slightly.\u00a0 Shooting at these shutter speeds (as low as 1\/100 sec)\u00a0is almost unheard of for me and as a result many of my shots were soft.<\/p>\n But I got a few I like and dang I had fun with this bird!<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: If you haven’t seen them and have the interest I’ve posted images from my second encounter with this bird here – Merlin With Prey\u00a0In Approaching\u00a0Fog\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier his month I had two encounters with a Merlin on consecutive early mornings at almost the same location in the Centennial Valley of Montana. These images were taken the first morning.<\/p>\n![\"merlin](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/merlin-big-crop-5735-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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