For the past two days, a Red-tailed Hawk has been hanging around our school 
playground in downtown Bethesda and dining on quite a few squirrels. Then 
this afternoon I was frantically pulled from recess duty by a very worried 
nurse. A woodpecker was lying on the asphalt outside a classroom window. It 
turned out to be an immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The nurse, always well 
prepared, had commandeered a box lined with paper towels so I took some of 
the towels to lift the bird into the box.

As soon as I touched it, off it went. It landed and stayed perched in a 
sheltered and secluded area under some trees. We are all keeping our fingers 
crossed.

Anna Urciolo
Rockville, MD