Stumbling on Young Prairie Merlins - Saskatchewan

I'm happy to be heading out of town in a few days — to a great degree because of the birds and flowers I know I'll find. Last July, at this retreat, I stumbled over (or, to be more precise, under, with a little help from a fellow birder) a pair of young Prairie Merlins.

Prairie Merlin, loudly asserting its right to be above me.... ©SB

Prairie Merlin   ©SB

Our variety of these small, fierce falcons is lighter than other Merlins — All About Birds has some pix for comparison... Ours, the Prairie subspecies of Merlins, has white and pale brown markings.

And, for the record, these young Merlins (or maybe there's only one, photographed on different days) were okay flyers, although they preferred to sit on their branches and squawk at me.


What are these?  Merlins (Prairie subspecies).

Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: July 22 and 17, 2014. 

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