Nothing to do with Maryland, but I hope Norm won't mind my passing  
this request on.  I'm sure some of our experts can advise him, and  
others will find the question interesting or amusing.

Jim Boughton
Chevy Chase

**********************************************************************8
From: Audubon birding discussion for WV [] on
behalf of Fred Schroyer []
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 11:00 PM
To: 
Subject: Raptor experts: quick help please

I'm editing a novel in which "a [unspecified] hawk brings down a  
[unspecified] goose" . . . and I don't buy it. I can't imagine any  
hawk big enough to capture a goose in flight. A quick internet search  
indicates that Great Horned Owls occasionally nail geese, altho I  
suspect not in midair but on the ground . . .

It's fiction, but the author likes to have her basic facts right, and  
I don't think she does here . . . the context is a flying V of geese,  
and a hawk picks one off. I say baloney. Thoughts? Thanks!

Fred Schroyer
Freelance Science Writer / Editorial Consultant
955 Sixth Street - Waynesburg, PA 15370 (40 air mis S of Pittsburgh -  
20 air mis N of Morgantown, WV) Home 724-627-8844 - Work 304-599-7830  
x 1120