Yard bird #153. A merlin at last. At 4:30, taking my dog for a walk before dark, I saw a merlin fly in and land on top of a dead tree right next to us. An attractive perch, it is usually host to the resident sharpie. The merlin was unperturbed by our proximity, and returned to the same perch after brief forays into the shrubs. With little to no experience identifying merlins, I'm not sure whether it was a male or female, juvenile or adult. Field guide in hand, I hope for another chance tomorrow morning in better light. Inga Schmidt Chagrin River Road Geauga Co ______________________________________________________________________ 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]