Merlin
(Falco columbarius)
Taff Rd., Bartow Co., GA
photos and text by Pierre Howard
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On January 24, 2006, following a report by
Jim Flynn of two Merlins in southwest Bartow County near Georgia Highway
113, I drove to Taff Road and found an immature female Merlin sitting on
a fencepost near the intersection of Taff Road and Brandon Farm Road
devouring a blackbird sp. I was able to get two photographs before the
bird flew to a more distant fenceline to finish its meal.
On the way home, I found another immature female Merlin on a telephone pole along Georgia Highway 113 near the entrance to the Cartersville Industrial Park. I got good scope views of the second Merlin, but I was unable to make a close approach. I believe that this bird was the same one reported by Jim from nearby Euharlee Road earlier in the day. Merlin is listed in the Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds (Beaton, G et al, 2003) as a "rare to uncommon winter resident over most of [the] state." In recent years, winter reports of Merlin have come from Cherokee, Murray, Floyd and Oconee Counties in north Georgia. With more observers in the field in Georgia than ever before, more may be learned about winter distribution of Merlin in the state. |
Created 28 Jan 2006
