Thanks everyone, I'll keep an eye out for it whenever I go that way again.
On Thu, Apr 7, 2022 at 10:54 AM <
ian@...> wrote:
Hi Nikhil,
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The call is indeed that of a Merlin and, at this time of year, I believe that this is a ¡°territorial¡± call.
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I live in South Surrey and, adjacent to my home, there is a grove of tall conifers in which Merlin nest in alternate years [last 6 years]. They nested last year in 2021 and flying around the immediate area calling as you have described, calling loudly, was a regular occurrence to proclaim their territory. Once nesting was in progress, the behaviour became more aggressive, especially whenever a Bald Eagle or Red-tailed Hawk was nearby. The Merlin, despite its smaller size, protected its nest and harassed the larger birds until they left the area.
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Hope this helps.
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Ian Tyzzer
South Surrey
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Yesterday evening while on a walk, around 6:00 pm I saw a small falcon land atop a very tall conifer in White Rock some distance away. There were some high-pitched sounds coming from the general direction of the bird but I dismissed it as gulls, thinking the falcon's there just surveying the area for a meal, and continued on the walk. Not having binoculars or a camera, I only noted the silhouette in flight, which had long and very pointy wings. Then on the way back about a half hour later, I encountered it again, on a different tall conifer (again perched right at the top), but this time I noticed it was calling. It then flew north another 100m or so to yet another conifer's treetop, and I noticed the long thin flat-ended tail. Overall size very small (smaller than a pigeon). I made a recording of the call, attached here. This sounds like a Merlin, and I wonder what it was trying to say, e.g. territory marking, calling out for a mate, something else?
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