Merlin is Landing.

[Karl Egressy]

I had to go back to 2008 in my files to find some images of this bird.
It was strickly the bird of the North a decade or so ago.
Now they are moving South and can be found more often but they are still uncommon.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 1D MIV
Canon 300 f2.8 L IS
ISO 800
1/1600 s
f 4.5
HH

[Marina Scarr]

Super landing pose and perch. Bird definitely needs more sharpening.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice light and wingspan, I agree it need more sharpening. the shooting angle was a bit steep but nice spread of the wings

[PhilCook]

Loving that dominant posture, I can almost hear it crying out over the tree tops. The angle is steep, but in my opinion it works nicely with this capture. Liking the inclusion of the pine tree top and lovely blue sky, wonderful underwing light and patterns...= well exposed. perhaps a little more sharpen on just the bird.

{ interesting your info on the bird moving south again, we have been experiencing some unusual bird activity here lately with some species moving into areas not previously recorded before }

[Alan Murphy]

The open wings make the image for me. Well done.

[Lorant Voros]

Very nice pose with the open wings. Would be nice to have a less steep angle, but it is still a keeper. Nice one, Karl.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details, a great shot,.

[Shawn Zierman]

Looks like a juvenile bird no?
I dig this image. Very nice light quality, great action pose, but what I really like is the perch.

[David Salem]

Nice shot of this columbarius Merlin with open wings and in a classic breeding tree.
These falcons are heavy migrants and will breed in your area and north, then migrate south and winter into Mexico.
We had a real cool experience with an identical female that we trapped and hunted for a winter season. After the hunting season we let her go so she could migrate . This is typical for training a Merlin. What wasnt typical is the next year we were out in the same field that we hunted her in and she showed up. We coluldnt believe it and she stayed in the wild and would fly in every day and hunt with us for three months. To make it more unusual is she left for Canada every March, probably breed and raised young, and then returned to Southern California for 5 years in a row to the same 20 acre field to hunt with us.
Thanks for sharing

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karl, I like the angled landing pose with the open beak. Good show of the wings, and agree, some additional sharpening on the head wont harm.

[adrian dancy]

Excellent work Karl. Light on the underwings that are open is a nice touch.