Merlin in Sans Souci County Park

Merlin in Sans Souci County Park

 

Last Saturday I walked in Sans Souci County Park, which is in part both in Sayville and Bayport.  I hadn’t gone very far when I spotted a bird of prey, roughly the size of a large robin, looking down from a tree limb.  It turned out to be a Merlin. These small but fierce falcons have the nickname “lady hawks,” because in medieval times they were commonly used by female falconers for hunting Skylarks. Seeing this bird splendidly perched on a tree limb reminded me of a wall painting I saw a few years ago when I visited Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg in Alsace, France.  The painting is of an exquisitely dressed noblewoman holding up on her gloved hand a hooded falcon.  Reflecting on the painting made me wish I could be transported back to medieval times and have a lady hawk of my own perched on my arm as I walked in the woods.