We went out to see what shorebirds were around on the north end of Mosquito Lake this afternoon. There were fair numbers, including over 20 Great Egrets and a few Bald Eagles.
 Our trip was cut short when we discovered a kitten that had been dumped off in the fishermans parking area at the end of Hoagland Backstub rd. I easily caught him and set off to get him a new home. (Fed, de-flead and happy with one of our friends in Mentor)
 On our drive home from Mosquito Lake we traveled north on route 608. Less than a mile north of route 322, while traveling at 55mph a small brown hawk with a narrow tail burst over the woods on my left-hand side. It soared across my windshield about 10 feet up and sped PAST my vehicle! It swooped down to a height of 3 or 4 feet off the ground. As it turned northward it show the deep explosive pump of back-swooped falcon wings. Soon after, it rolled a bit east and exposed it's underside for a good view of the dark cream belly and black striped tail. I lost sight of it as it exploded into a thick cloud of spooked Red-winged blackbirds over a corn field.
 As I swerved back onto the road my wife and I exclaimed Holy -! that was a Merlin!! The speed and wing beats made it an easy ID over a Cooper's or Sharpy.
 The impressive part was that he passed my 55mph vehicle with ease. I don't know if it resides in the area or is just passing through, but we will have our eyes wide open looking next time!!
 
Andrew Morrison
Kirtland, OH

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