Sion Mills twitcher excited by sighting of elusive Merlin

IT’S always great for local ornithology buffs to witness a sighting of a rare bird, and a local twitcher was lucky enough to get a glimpse of one of the most beautiful birds about on a recent visit to Inishowen.

Sion native Brian Hegarty, a member of the Inishowen Wildlife Club, was out with his fellow bird-watchers recently when they came across a family of Merlins (Falco columbarius), a small falcon-like hunting bird. Neither common nor uncommon in Ireland the Merlin, much like many birds, fell victim to pesticide poisoning but the bird has still maintained a presence on the island, primarily in woodland and moorland areas.

Brian explains, “I was out with the other members of the club around Inishowen Peninsula and we came across a family of five Merlins, the parents teaching their young hunting skills. Unfortunately they were flying around a lot so it was difficult to get a good shot. It was my first sighting in four years. The group went on and visited a few more places and I was intending to come back the following day to see if I could get the shot. However, since I was already there, I went back straight away. I got extremely lucky; catching sight of a young Merlin perched on a fence post.

“In order not to scare it, I stayed in my van with the camera out and began creeping slowly towards the Merlin and was able to get off a couple of shots. I can’t believe it stayed still for so long, it was the first time I ever got that close and felt very lucky to have been able to get a sighting.”