The longer-than-usual winter and cooler spring made for some interesting opportunities for wildlife photographers.

Local birds and animals, as well as migrating birds, behave differently when environmental conditions don’t happen like they usually do. I was lucky and saw several species I haven’t seen in a few years and some different behaviours from other local species that made for good photographs.

The Merlin attacks an intruder to chase it out of its territory.

I happened across a pair of merlins in the middle of courtship rituals. Merlins are small members of the falcon family. They fly very fast and are quite territorial. I heard them long before I saw them. Their high-pitched screams pierced the otherwise quiet spring morning.

Eventually, I spotted them chasing each other from tree to tree. One would land in a tree and begin vocalizing and........

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