Last evening (12/9) I observed 4 Merlins at the same time around sunset (ss 4:44 pm) in various parts of Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines. Under overcast skies and mild temps around 43 degrees, all four held their positions from about 4:42 to 4:57 while I made three rounds throughout the cemetery in my car. One was in the scraggly ash tree in Block G, one in the spruce in the NE corner of Block 21, one in the English oak in the south-central part of Block 37, and one in the mid-size white pine in the northern part of Masonic Block A. One Merlin was seen earlier in Block 27, and there was an adult Cooper's Hawk in the big burr oak in Block H for a few minutes around 4:30.
