Thursday, February 12, 2009

Merlin Release


The end of the season is drawing near. Black Mamba, the suspected black merlin, had a great season catching nearly 65 sparrows this season, caching all but 4 or 5.




She cached the first sparrow she caught and continued that trend the whole season usually not even eating the head off of her victim.




I left her in the field on Saturday and Diana went back out Sunday while I was off fishing. While Diana was putting on her vest and gathering up some food Mamba came flying overhead.




She gave her a quail breast and took a few photos with her phone through her binoculars.




(Caching is a behavior in merlins. When they catch a bird they will take it to a stump, bush or thick grass and hide the bird without eating it. They will usually eat the head and hide, "cache" the rest and then return to hunt for more birds.)

1 comment:

Albert A Rasch said...

Three cheers for a successful, no, phenomenal season.

Now, how are you going to beat that?

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
Proud Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit
Southeast Regional OBS Coordinator