I saw my first-of-season Merlin at Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines last night (10/15) a few minutes after sunset at 6:45 p.m. It perched on the highest bare branch in a storm-damaged black locust in Block H near the center of the grounds. Tonight (10/16) it appeared once again at 6:45 p.m. in the same locust and sat until 6:55, when it disappeared. I noticed that a lower branch in the same tree appeared to have a bird on it when observed from the east, but it was just an illusion.
