Merlin at the Tower of London (1 Viewer)

Fstopped · Mar 9, 2009

Out at lunchtime today and I saw a small, brown and very agile thing flitting into a window at the Tower of London. A quick look with the bins showed it to be a female Merlin, which is rather cool.

My notes, direct from the book:
Bird of prey. Brown Head, black stripe over eyes, pale feathers behind/beneath. Brown body, paler underneath with brown streaks. Darker back/wings with dark brown spots. Small (less than pigeon sized), very agile in flight. Small grey bill, yellow talons.
Sitting on windowsill on road side of tower - then moved to wall overlooking moat.

First thing I did when I got home was to google for falconry in the Tower, and I can't find anything relating. If someone would like to contradict me here, feel free. Didn't see any jessies or odd bits of leather hanging off it. Not even any rings. Pretty sure it's wild.

Thoughts? I'll be back out tomorrow to see if it's still there.

shrikebirder · Mar 9, 2009

Not unlikely. Merlins often winter in and around london.

totaljohn · Mar 9, 2009

indeed, well spotted.

TwoDipsfromAmsterdam · Mar 9, 2009

Just to match the UK with France there was also one in Paris in November at Auteuil racetrack, within a (far) spit of the Eiffel Tower.

DiP

London Birder · Mar 9, 2009

Fstopped said:
Out at lunchtime today and I saw a small, brown and very agile thing flitting into a window at the Tower of London. A quick look with the bins showed it to be a female Merlin, which is rather cool.

My notes, direct from the book:
Bird of prey. Brown Head, black stripe over eyes, pale feathers behind/beneath. Brown body, paler underneath with brown streaks. Darker back/wings with dark brown spots. Small (less than pigeon sized), very agile in flight. Small grey bill, yellow talons.
Sitting on windowsill on road side of tower - then moved to wall overlooking moat.

First thing I did when I got home was to google for falconry in the Tower, and I can't find anything relating. If someone would like to contradict me here, feel free. Didn't see any jessies or odd bits of leather hanging off it. Not even any rings. Pretty sure it's wild.

Thoughts? I'll be back out tomorrow to see if it's still there.

Merlin is still a rare species within Inner London, may be just worth emailing Derrick Coyle (aka The Ravenmaster), he attended a falconry course in 2005 (primarily to learn how to get the Ravens to fly to hand) and a couple of the yeoman have also been trained to fly birds of prey.

That's not to say there are birds of prey at the tower however.

I'd then suggest sending your record to Inner London Recorder, Richard Bonser, with a full description ruling out other species.

Richard can be contacted at richbonser8181 'AT' hotmail.com and I know for a fact he'd be grateful for the record.

Fstopped · Mar 10, 2009

I will definitely do that.

I know what I saw. I'm certain, from the views I had and from my notes, it was a Merlin. But it's about this time that the self-doubt starts to kick in, so an extra set of eyes keeping a look out for it would be welcome.

Fstopped · Mar 10, 2009

Ah well - self doubt 1, Andrew nil.

It was a Kestrel.

Got some much better views round the back of the Tower today, including that unmistakable picture of its back (the bird was above me the whole time last time). Still surprised by its agility - I thought Kestrels were clumsier than this, but hey ho. Guess I ended up seeing what I wanted to see rather than what was there (birding trap no. 1 I think).

I'm still happy with the site tick. I just wish I'd left it until a second viewing before plastering it over the internet. Glad I decided not to email any significant people until I'd gathered a bit more evidence. It's one IDing error I won't be making again in a hurry.

Shhh, maybe no one will notice.

Johnny Allan · Mar 10, 2009

Hi Fstopped, not to worry, it's all part of the learning process. I admire your honesty. Apparently Kestrel used to breed there.

Johnny Allan

Isurus · Mar 10, 2009

Unlucky Fstopped - for what its worth when I lived in central London there were a couple of times when a kes popping up completely fooled me as ithey weren't doing what I usually see kestrels doing.

I've had merlin in the middle of town a couple of times out here and our local recorder had one that would raid his bird table regularly.

Merlin at the Tower of London (1 Viewer)

More options

Fstopped

Well-known member

shrikebirder

Well-known member

totaljohn

man-e-faces

TwoDipsfromAmsterdam

Anything About?

London Birder

Well-known member

Fstopped

Well-known member

Fstopped

Well-known member

Attachments

Johnny Allan

Dip or Glory

Isurus

Well-known member

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread