Six images of a very accommodating Merlin. Three nearly full-frame and three close-crops.

Top Image: This one was shot from my vehicle. The Merlin was perched on a branch about six meters above a road. I almost missed seeing it as I was heading home, my camera already back in it's case. It just sat there staring at me and it gave me plenty of time to reach back, get my camera, open my car window and take many shots. I then moved my vehicle in closer and took some more shots, then closer still and more shots before finally getting out of my vehicle. All this time the Merlin just looked around and occasionally stared down at me.


Image # 2: A close-crop of the top image.


Image # 3: When I took this shot, three other photographers had arrived and the Merlin had moved to a lower branch beside the road.


Image # 4: A close-crop of image # 3. Note the roadway slightly reflected in both eyes.


Image # 5. This is a vertical pano of two shots as I was too close to get the whole bird into one frame.


Image # 6. A close-crop of image #5. In this image one can again see the reflections of the road in the eye as well as those of three photographers standing on the road.