Location Mill Creek Hollow, Upper Yoder, PA
Now it's back on the list.
I was out taking my exercise walk around the neighborhood when I heard a sound I wasn't familiar with. (How many times does that precede a new bird?) It sounded like a killdeer, but it wasn't high-pitched and squeaky enough. It was coming from an area to my left that was an empty lot backed by a line of trees. I walked on, not seeing anything and not having much hope of determining what it was.
Later in the walk, I decided to take a slightly different route, exiting my neighborhood instead of just circling around. I then was able to see a large-ish bird in a tree near the road. My first impression was definitely a falcon. I knew what a Peregrine sounded like because I used to watch a nest cam all the time in Columbus, and it didn't sound like a Peregrine. Trying to not engage wishful thinking, I moved to kestrel, since they are more common. I've seen many kestrels, but it looked a touch too big, and it wasn't moving its tail.
The naked eye view I had was not great, as it was a good 30 feet up with a solid overcast sky. But I felt like I had a good enough view to call it as a Merlin if I could confirm the sound.
I called up my Audubon app on my phone, and the call notes were exactly like the calls I'd been hearing several times during my walk.
This was on March 2nd.
I was confident of my id, but I sure wanted a better look. The next day, at about the same time in the afternoon, I hear the call again. He had flown back to the same exact perch. This time, I grabbed my binoculars and walked up the road to the vacant lot. I got a good initial look, then moved closer, using the neighborhood billboard as sort of a blind. I got several excellent views and at this point there was no doubt.
He returned about the same time on March 5th. Maybe he will nest here?
Cornell: Merlin
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