Merlin
I’ll start with two days ago when we were sitting on a chilly partly snow-covered river beach near La Crosse, Wisconsin. I’d hoped to photograph bald eagles fishing in the patch of open water, and there were a few. Instead, I came away with this image. I’ve identified this stern looking bird as a Merlin. She, I think this is female, was maybe crow-sized. She suddenly swooped around my left shoulder, hovered over the water and a thin patch of ice about fifteen feet away, and floated there for a few moments. She dipped her talons and tail in the water, glared at me some more (I don’t know that falcons look any other way), and flew off. I count my good luck, and I’m grateful to have seen her.