ML645804016

Observation details

This afternoon I decided to drift through the inlet and make a quick pass out to the north jetty but moments after arriving pandemonium and chaos ensued with birds flying erratically everywhere, as suddenly I observed a merlin strike a starling and take it down into the kill zone and while the merlin was calling out likely feeling victorious after an alleged kill the starling was still screaming for its life and rightfully so as this captured the attention of a nearby murder of fish crows which immediately engaged in a rapid response to the aid of the starling. Appearing on the scene as the intelligent creatures they are, launched their own aerial assault and deployed a relentless bombardment on the assailant, as that was finally enough for the merlin to release its death grip with its deadly needle sharp talons that were likely embedded into its victim, but apparently not enough as the starling was released and obviously still scared out of its mind, it took to the wing and whether or not it lived to see another day or fell victim to its injuries that we’ll never know, but it was nature at its finest this afternoon at the Boynton Inlet.