Thursday, December 4, 2008

One of those moments

Yesterday I came out of a convenient store and nearly stepped on a moving critter. At first I had no clue what it was. Then I realized it was a bird. Then I realized it was two birds! This is my first Merlin and it's a fairly rare sighting here in my area. I had my trusty G9 in the car and was able to get a series of shots off. I wanted to spare the gory details and am just posting this picture. I resisted saving the Mourning Dove. This Merlin worked hard for her meal and I wasn't about to take it away from her.
What a beautiful creature.

19 comments:

Shelley said...

Gulp! There goes one of Bob's cousins! Fantastic shot - nature is definitely at work.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Eve: Dropped over from Sheely's site because of your comment. What a neat captue. Great photo of nature at work. I'm glad you left him do his job.

Mary said...

What a fantastic shot! A beautiful bird and I'm sure you are right that he deserved the dove even though we hate to see any bird die.

The Birdlady said...

Wow! Lucky you & unlucky dove.

Carolynn Anctil said...

Yea....nature can be touch sometimes. He certainly is a gorgeous specimen. I'm partial to raptors.

BTW, I have a little something for you over at my place today.

Carolynn

Jenny said...

Great action Evie! I guess the dove had a bad day! Hope you have a good one! (-:

jalynn01 said...

It's all part of nature and I so enjoy seeing the captures you and other blogger friends get! I'm so gald you had your camera.

Gone2theDawgs said...

Wow! What a fantastic shot! That hawk is definitely giving you a look like he doesn't plan on sharing his meal! I had to look to see that those pretty tail feathers belonged to the dove.

Stacey Olson said...

LOL, they don't have good "table Manners" do they.. wonderful shot, I was wondering about the tail for a minute.. great job EVE..

Stacey Olson said...

BTW,, just had to add that I LOVE the header.. too funny.. you should frame that one on your wall..lol

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

WOWWY! You were in the right place at the right time. Too bad for the dove but that Merlin is sooo beautiful and everybody's got to eat.

Tina said...

Eve,
Boy is he handsome and that eye! Love it!! You really did capture one of those moments!! I have never seen a Merlin, sigh, only coopers! Yes, it is hard to see the dove die but Mr. Merlin definitely deserved to have his supper! Great post!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I saw you left a comment about a merlin on SMU and had to drop everthing and check it out. How cool is this!

DeniseinVA said...

Well, that's one of those moments isn't it Eve? What a great photo of your Merlin.

Its Time to Live said...

Ahh, its the little things!
Great shot

Eve said...

Thanks everyone...this really was a thrill!

Peggy said...

Just perusing the rest of your blog and love what you are capturing! What a find! To almost trip over this amazing moment, and...to have your camera... LUCKY GIRL!

I've yet to find a merlin, but I can only hope it will be as exciting as your find!

Love your header!

Eve said...

Thanks Hannibal!! You're no slouch with your camera either! I'll be back to post on your beautiful Snowy Owl post and I love your coyote shots too!

Danni said...

Wow, you have 16 other people telling you what a great shot this is, so I hope I'm not being redundant when I say, "Wow! Great shot, Eve!" :-) :-)
I can't believe
1) you were coming out of a convenience store when you saw him,
2) that the merlin didn't fly away when you came out,
3) that the sun was shining, and
4) that you were able to get your camera and have him still be there!
Talk about a shot that was meant to be. :-)