12/12/11 - Male Merlin was observed on a telegraph wire beside the road eating a small passerine.
Location: lowland Rheidol Valley ca 500 metres after turn from A44 at Capel Bangor going to CwmRheidol.
I had no binoculars or camera but the merlin let me turn the car around and drive right underneath it while it plucked the feathers from its catch. It occasionally turned its head over its shoulders to glance down at me or into the distance bobbing its head all the time. Although it was raining, I could clearly see its bright yellow legs and streaks and a dark head. In the end, it let me open my car window and watch it finish its meal which took about 20 minutes all in all. In ten years in the valley, I don't think I've ever seen a merlin there let alone so close although I don't go in there much in the winter.
Neil Gale