Greetings, I had a marvelous view of a brown-backed Merlin that spent 10 minutes or so yesterday morning (Thursday) attempting to capture a pigeon. Once it practically grabbed a pigeon which was sitting on a window ledge. I was too busy to post yesterday. No other hawks in evidence yesterday, though so far this month I have seen a close Cooper's Hawk and a more distant Cooper's-sized bird. Rob Rob (Robert) Hilton--*robert@csa.com*--Bethesda, Md. (very close to Washington, DC)