Linda Welsh spotted this merlin (Falco columbarius or pigeon hawk) on February 10 and managed to capture the shot from 15 feet away, and gave us permission to share the catch.

The merlin (thank you Wikipedia) is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere. A bird of prey once known colloquially as a pigeon hawk in North America,^[2] the merlin breeds in the northern Holarctic; some migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter.

Welcome to Pemberton, Merlin.