ML644764719

Observation details

Continuing, first spotted flying down the shore away from me and then subsequently found sitting on the shingles of the lighthouse warming up in the morning sun. Once the bird warmed up and insects started flying it was foraging up and down the shoreline west of the lighthouse. After about 20 minutes of this we spotted a merlin sitting in a tree nearby which quickly took notice of the swallow and started persistently hunting it, gaining altitude and doing many dives at it before it grazed the swallow which dropped a bunch of feathers. The chase then continued, with the swallow flying far out over the lake with the merlin hot on its tail, then it turned back towards land and made one final desperate attempt to evade the merlin by hiding somewhere in the marsh where it was first spotted yesterday morning. The swallow then vanished for over half an hour, and was then seen flying around the harbour area, both in the clearing for the old fishing village and in the parking lot for the trail.