Just to finish the New Year at the usual haunt on Chincoteague. Here are two photos from January 1 of the beach and the wild horses. (there was a lady next to me getting out a yard long lens saying, "It's a Merlin, my life is complete." I can't identify that bird from this photo but it's surely there (there is a bird perched on the tip of the dead tree in the center but it looks too large to be a "Merlin").
It's a shame you didn't bring your E.M Reilly shotgun along. You could have shot that "Merlin" and then invited the lady over for a nice Southern fried "Merlin" dinner... followed by a lively discussion about the unabridged conjecture and history of the E.M. Reilly Co.
Then her life would really be complete! Not sporting to shoot "Merlins" perched in a tree though.
