[cobirds] Merlin west of Berthoud

Yesterday a flurry at my back feeder and a Merlin landed in a small tree at eye level just 8 ft from my window!
It stayed there looking for an opportunity of one of the small birds that had scattered.
I had a good 4 min of close up viewing with my binos!
I am not very experienced in raptor ids and so I have studied the guides at length to determine it was not a sharpie.
The main factor in my determination was the eye color.
I think I'd say it was a female because I think I would have noted the back being "dark or grey" vs brown.
Does this id sound right?

ebird sitings boosted my confidence that a Merlin is reasonable at this time.

Ron Bolton
Berthoud

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