Female Common Merganser
It was heavily overcast with intermittent, very light drizzle, but I ventured out to see if the juvenile Cooper's Hawk was in the same location near the golf course pond where I saw it yesterday. As soon as I parked my car and started my hike, two birders stopped their car to ask what I had seen. They were from Roanoke, Virginia, and were on a birding trip east, but stopped here in Old Trail to see if they could find the Common Merganser I have been seeing. They said they coldn't find it, so I offered to show them where I had been seeing it, and a few of the birding hotspots here in Old Trail. Sure enough, the Common Merganser came out for them.
Female Common Merganser
We continued the hike over at Western Park in Old Trail, and added several more species to their list.
Song Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Red-shouldered Hawk
Around 10:50 a.m., we were standing near the Lodge, and one of the Roanoke birders spotted a distant bird perched in a tree, and it was being harassed by some Blue Jays. I got a few shots of it, and was fairly sure that it was a Merlin.
Merlin and Blue Jay
We continued birding in Western Park until they had to leave for their next destination, and then I continued on until 11:45. When I got back to the Lodge, the Merlin was still in the same tree, and the tree appeared to be at the eastern edge of Old Trail. So I drove over there to see if I could get any closer photos of the Merlin.
Merlin and Blue Jay
Merlin
Merlin
Merlin