Hello birders,

Today I witnessed a MERLIN and a juv. GOLDEN EAGLE flying by the science
center here at Ohio Wesleyan within 10 minutes of each other!!!

Merlin- at 3:05pm, as I put my book bag down in room 319 in the science
center, I noticed a medium-sized, fast-flying bird outside the window. I got
the scope on it, and it was all dark, heavily streaked on the chest, with a
dark head and pale throat. Then I noted the thin, pointed wings, black and
white patterned underwing. Second campus record!

Golden Eagle- This bird was soaring straight north the whole time. At first
it appeared all dark, but once it flapped, I could see white flashes at the
base of the primaries, which appeared to extend somewhat to the bases of the
secondaries. It had noticeably long wings and a massive bill, which alerted
me to its identity as an eagle. The bird mostly soared, and I noted that it
held the wings in a very slight, but noticeable positive dihedral. There was
some white flecking on the body of the bird, but not much. A couple times I
noted white in the base of the tail. Luckily, Jed Burtt happened to be in
the room because I alerted him to the presence of the Merlin. He was able to
get on the bird with the scope and noted similar field marks. The sighting
occurred over a period of about two minutes. Golden Eagle is #203 for my OWU
campus list.


Good birding,

Sean


---
Sean Williams, '11
Undergraduate of Ornithology of Dr. Jed Burtt
Ohio Wesleyan University
HWCC 724
Delaware, OH 43015
617-470-4094

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