Hello to all, Today while driving home from work on Route 2 in Lorain County at the Broadway/Middle Ridge Rd. exit I think I spotted a Merlin in one of the four or five pine trees that are growing in along the exit ramp. I say I think because I am not 100% sure. I saw the bird perched at the top of one of the trees quite well but it was from a bit of a distance in a moving car. I wasn't sure if I should post but I thought it raised an interesting question for a list posting. I have only been seriously birding for about a year and a half and would still consider myself a very novice birder but I have tried really hard to learn a lot about birds especially id basics. I think I have gotten some decent skills in that time. The bird was definitely a small raptor and I am pretty sure it wasn't a Kestrel. It seemed slightly larger than a Kestrel and had a very brown back and head. It's tail was also not as long as the Kestrels I have seen. I have seen many Kestrels and am also a volunteer at the raptor center at the Carlisle Reservation in the Lorain County Metroparks. They have two male Kestrels there and I have had them on my arm many times so I have seen them up close and studied them in both form and appreance. The bird I saw today did not seem to be the same. I wasn't sure if I should post because I can't say with 100% confidence that it was a Merlin but I thought the question this raised was one some other lister could answer. I have posted a couple times before but only if I was sure or had a photo someone else could confirm. Is that the only time one should post or is posting an "I'm pretty sure" OK. I don't wish to cause a problem on the list now or in the future so I throw this out as a question some others maybe able to answer. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks to anyone in advance for an answer or response. Good birding to all, Matt Vosniak ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]