Date: 3/29/25 9:25 am From: Richard Guthrie <richardpguthrie...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Merlins in Middlebury?
Sounds good. Merlins have become the new downtown raptors in our northern states.
In recent years, they have expanded their range eastward first by being the forest bird that they have been traditionally, then finding a niche in our cities.
They have successfully adapted to places like Albany, and Ithaca, New York.
While the songbirds have enjoyed a bit of a respite, the new kid in town will have them looking over their shoulder.
Rich Guthrie
> On Mar 29, 2025, at 11:27 AM, Marguerite Heckscher <00000e59ff4cc836-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>
> Thank you so much! This is great information. I'll be sure to bring my binoculars next time I'm on campus.Marguerite
> On Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 10:44:21 AM EDT, David Guertin <00000d40dcd17dfd-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>
> Sounds like an exciting observation! Yes, that sounds likely to me. Over
> the years I've seen a few Merlins on and near the Middlebury campus. I
> wouldn't call them exactly rare, but they're certainly not an everyday
> sighting, and always exciting to see! While Kestrels would be the more
> common small falcons in general, they tend to prefer more open habitats
> and I can't recall seeing one on the college campus proper. Of course
> getting a good look to rule out Kestrel and confirm Merlin's Merlin ID
> (how confusing is that?) would be ideal, but I'd say Merlin would be the
> most likely.
>
> Dave G.
>
>> On 3/29/25 3:22 AM, Marguerite Heckscher wrote:
>> Hello, I’m not an expert by any means, but all week I’ve seen and heard a pair of small, falcon-like birds that appear to be in the midst of an elaborate mating dance on the campus in Middlebury. My Merlin app identified them as actual merlins, which they note as rare. Could this be accurate? If so, this is an exciting lifer for me!
>> Marguerite Lenius
>>
>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>>
>
