My husband took me over to see the Rockville N. Saw-whet on Friday. After much careful 
creeping around the driveway and sidewalk, visually trying to follow the whitewash up the 
tree with no sighting of the owl, I drove my wheelchair out into the street to try one last 
time from the other side of the tree. Approaching quietly, I continued to scan the branches 
above the whitewash - no owl. I was about to give up (we were freezing our tukasses), 
glanced to the left - and there he/she was, 4 feet lower down and sitting in the middle of a 
branch, calmly looking back at me! It was so tiny! So beautiful! A life bird for me! Many, 
many thanks to Paul O'Brian for his help...

We've been hearing a Red-shouldered Hawk calling in our suburban Silver Spring 
neighborhood for a month or so. Saturday, it perched in a tree right across the street and 
called for about 15 minutes, very exposed and clearly visible. I didn't think Red-shouldereds 
were suburban birds, although our house is about three blocks up the hill from Sligo Creek. 
Are Red-shouldered Hawks becoming more urbanized like Sharpies and Coopers?

Mary LaMarca
Silver Spring, MD