My post yesterday about a morning encounter with a northern goshawk elicited several emails, most concerned about the specificity of the location information.  More experienced birders alerted me to the possibility of unscrupulous falconers trolling such lists for information about nests to raid.  This was news to me and I was (and am) horrified. Apparently, where goshawks are concerned, it's better to adopt Ted Levin's approach to posting about rattlesnakes: be specific about behavior; vague to opaque about location.  Lesson learned. 

Yesterday I contacted the ListServ owner and asked that my post be deleted (first such request he's ever had, said he). Although the original post did go out to all subscribers, it either has been or will soon be deleted and will not appear in the archives.  I would request that subscribers to the list not re-post or re-send the original message, in the interest of protecting the bird and nest location. I know that subscribers to this list are responsible birders, but it (and other lists to which my original post might be forwarded) can be publicly accessed by those who aren't.

Many thanks!

Vic Henningsen

Thetford Center, VT