[EBB Sightings] Merlin!

This morning's inclement weather, which dissuaded me from birding 
outdoors,  brought an unexpected visitor to the neighborhood - a Merlin 
(Taiga, adult, female).  I found her sitting on top of an uphill 
neighbor's redwood tree, from which she appears to be monitoring one of 
the feeders on our north deck.  She's made a few sallies out over 
Claremont Canyon, but keeps returning to the same perch.  Two hours so 
far!  This species appears very infrequently on my yardlist; but 
curiously, my first sightings here were on March 11-12, 2001.

Kay Loughman
Berkeley