On June 20, 2021, our friend John either texted or called me and said a friend of his has a Merlin nest near downtown Holland and close to the Loutit Library. He said it was in a large pine tree right next to a house. I told him it was probably a Cooper’s Hawk. At the time there were either one or two known Merlin nests in Ottawa County. Also ‘Why would a Merlin nest above a house?’ He said he was going to check it out and let us know.
He sent a photo of the “bird” on the electrical wire above the road that connected one house to another. Yes, it is a Merlin! We gathered up binoculars and camera and off we went. We met John and he explained where the nest was. We watched as adults came and went and saw two three-quarters grown young peering out of the nest. The adults would leave for periods of time and then John noticed this adult was taking time out for a Mourning Dove dinner. We left soon after I took this photo.
This photo shows the facial pattern and eyes of the Merlin.
This was a repeat of an earlier sighting on June 26, 2009. John called and said he was pretty sure there was a Merlin nest above the tennis courts at Tunnel Park in Holland, Michigan. I told him it might be a Cooper’s Hawk. Why would a bird only seen during migration if we were lucky be nesting in a park? The next day we checked it out. John was right. This nest had two youngsters in it. This was the first known Merlin nest in Ottawa County, Michigan.
- Created Timestamp01/01/1970 00:00:00
Congratulations on the historic Merlin sightings!