Merlin

This site is very near my father-in-law's place and never fails to deliver, this the latest of several Merlin images which I've captured in Riverside County (California) since 2016. A local photographer (David Salem, for those who know him), has placed a number of natural perches around a particular refuge, and it's possible to photograph a number of wintering raptors using one's car as a rolling blind. I interrupted this female during breakfast -- a Savannah Sparrow as far as I could ascertain from other images -- and I was able to position the car so as to use some distant reeds as a backdrop. Stoked!

Riverside County, California, 12/2/21
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 800