A Dashing Merlin
Not easy to catch in flight as unlike Kestrels, Merlins never hover. Their typical level flight speed is about 30 mph but they can be much quicker during a chase. In Britain they breed only in mountains and moorland, usually nesting on the ground among deep heather, but sometimes they'll use an old crow's nest in a tree. They never build a nest themselves though they sometimes add a bit of lining.
In mediaeval times they were used for falconry by noblewomen to hunt Skylarks and were known as the Lady Hawk. Mary Queen of Scots is supposed to have owned a Merlin for falconry.
This is a female (a Lady Lady Hawk perhaps?), and like most birds of prey the females are larger than the male. But they are still Britain's smallest bird of prey. I photographed this female belting over the moors of the Peak District.
A Dashing Merlin
Not easy to catch in flight as unlike Kestrels, Merlins never hover. Their typical level flight speed is about 30 mph but they can be much quicker during a chase. In Britain they breed only in mountains and moorland, usually nesting on the ground among deep heather, but sometimes they'll use an old crow's nest in a tree. They never build a nest themselves though they sometimes add a bit of lining.
In mediaeval times they were used for falconry by noblewomen to hunt Skylarks and were known as the Lady Hawk. Mary Queen of Scots is supposed to have owned a Merlin for falconry.
This is a female (a Lady Lady Hawk perhaps?), and like most birds of prey the females are larger than the male. But they are still Britain's smallest bird of prey. I photographed this female belting over the moors of the Peak District.