Last northern goshawk in MD gone

[Panfisha]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/o...,7307692.story

"Someone in Garrett County has shot and killed Maryland's most rare bird, the only known nesting northern goshawk.

Natural Resources Police confirmed the death of the raptor, which is on the state's endangered species list. Without the female to protect and provide for them, the three chicks in the nest died as well."

No way this was an accident. Certain people I know will be outraged, as they have personally worked with these in Maryland in past years.

[Big Bad Wulff]

I'd be highly surprised it was the last one(I've done bird counts in Maryland many times and we always find species that "do not exist there" ). I have learned to distrust environmentalists and anything they say from extensive experience. I will be in Garrett Co this weekend and will look for others. Just be glad those in Garrett County look after the "environment", as those in Baltimore County ruined there's a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago. It always seems those that live in cities want to blame those that live in the country for being "backward", yet those in the country still live................IN THE COUNTRY!
Sorry. This hits a sore nerve with me. I dislike and distrust everything the "environmental movement" has become.

If it is the last, that is certainly a shame. As stated above, I have done many bird counts in Md(my mother was a fairly well-known ornithologist in Western Md) and I grew up watching and banding birds, etc.I have met and banded birds with Chandler Robbins(look at your bird book). But, that does not make me a zealot. I have seen the horrible things done by environmentalists and to me it is a LOT worse than shooting one bird.

[Byron Zuehlsdorff]

I tend to agree with BBW. This may have been the last KNOWN goshawk but there are others out there and they are not endangered in other areas. After having participated in several raptor surveys here in SW Wyoming, I have seen some species sort of DIE out and yet do a major comeback 2 to 3 years later. A niche was opened and it was filled. NOW I hope they can catch the lowlife tha did the killing and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law!!

[Big Bad Wulff]

Agreed Byron and thanks for not "going there" on me.
I agree on prosecuting but sometimes it's just a kid that just "shot a bird". I know that some think that is horrible but as a kid that did dumb things....it's just a kid that did something dumb. Now, if the person was well-aware it was on the endangered species list and they did it for spite or something like that, then that is a different story. I will admit to not reading the story, as I know the slant taken in medium that is slanted in the first place.

I once threw a rock at a bird in a tree. Being a baseball pitcher, well I didn't miss. It was a pretty common bird, a cedar waxwing. I still feel bad to this day for doing it. But, i was a kid that did a dumb thing. I certainly hope no one would want to put me in jail for killing a bird. I kinda feel the same toward this person. Hey it's a stupid thing. That's what it is.

[Big Bad Wulff]

Let me also add this. The Baltimore Sun and some Maryland representatives have it out for Western Maryland because they do not share the same political views. They are hell-bent on changing the name of a mountain in Western Maryland. The name just happens to be "Negroe Mountain". I guess we just ban naming anything "black". Watch out wine makers. Hope they don't find out what Noir means. I mean this is the stupid crap that is pulled in Maryland. That is one reason I no longer live there...

[Fishin Bill]

Who knows what's really out there. Shame on anybody who shoots them, they're obviously not a game bird. But here's hoping there's more around. I was very surprised two summers ago on a canoe trip with some Boy Scouts. We were on the Youghiogheny River, about twenty miles south of Pittsburgh. Stopped for lunch, enjoying the day, and of all things.... a bald eagle made a long slow cruise over our heads. I had no idea there were any in the area, and asked a local bird expert who was surprised, too. With that big white head and tail, it's pretty easy to identify. So good luck on more goshawks!

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

Its really simple people. You cannot legally kill a raptor! I bought my son a 22 when I thought he was ready for one. The first thing I taught him after we both went through the official government gun safety program was never shoot a raptor of any kind. I had a single shot 22 when I was 11 as did all the kids in my neighborhood. It was just something everyone did back then. One of the first things my Dad and Granddad taught me was never ever shoot a raptor. We soon learned to limit our ammo to just game birds. If we brought home a few ducks, pheasants etc we got more ammo from the adults. If we wasted our shots we had to buy our own ammo. Lesson learned. In the southern Okanagan valley all the turkey vultures had disappeared when I was a kid. DDT was the culprit. This poison was used extensively by Orchardists to protect their fruit crops. But it was found that it moved through the food chain and caused bird eggs to become infertile and several bird species disappeared from the Okanagan. One day about 1990 a pair of vultures showed up along the ridges above our town. Next year there were 6 pair and each succeeding year there were more. It has taken several decades but the vultures have now fully recovered . Other species have also re emerged from near extinction. I hope the same happens with your goshawks. Osprey, a similar bird was once very rare around here have also made a dramatic comeback in our Valley.

[fishdog54]

Ok, I actually read the article. Couldn't find that "slant", just the facts that are known at this time. Of course, as a self professed enviro-wacko, I probably read it with the inherent slant that I have developed after years of living with the environmental carnage left by the coal industry - hows that for slant! I personally don't begrudge the raptors the roll that they play in our natural environment, especially when there are hundreds of thousands of feral (and unsupervised pet) cats wreaking havoc with our native wildlife numbers. As an archery deer hunter(+ a grouse hunter) I get to see these magnificent raptors doing their thing, while sitting in my tree stand for looong hours. We don't have too many goshawks in my neck of the woods normally. We see more of them during the years when grouse numbers are low in their more normal northern habitat!