>
> Writing about Starlings, Dennis Paulson said,
>
> > Don, I would
> > have proposed that Lewis' Woodpecker disappeared from western WA for the
> > same reason that bluebirds did, the growing up of logged areas and the
> > disappearance of snag-filled open woodland. Most of the birds of semiopen
> > country in western WA (including the woodpecker and the bluebird)
> > disappeared *before* starlings made it out here in any numbers . . .

Been to south florida for ten days shooting (with camera) "florida
white things" (and green-backed things, and american crocodile, etc so
here's a late response to Dennis' note:

Oak Island, as the name implies, name implies, is full of Oak - big ones,
with lots of dead wood and holes and things which today are full of
starlings today. Of course much of this semiopen Oak habitat disappeared
in Oregon before the arrival of the starling, and bluebirds and Lewis'
woodpecker alog with it. My comment was in regard to this one spot,
where the habitat apparently hasn't changed much but where starlings

The information came from Dave Marshall, long-time wildlife biologist
and administrator of the endangered species program under the Carter
administration, 5th generation Portland Audubon member and currently
on the board as he's retired from USFW. He lost his job under Reagon,
of course. Anyway, I chatted with him after finding a lone Lewis'
woodpecker on the island a few years ago - at the time I had no
idea that they were common nesters on the island as late as 1948 or
so.

Anyway, you might be interested to learn that "oak savannah" habitat
in western Oregon is a priority in Portland Audubon's current rewrite
of our five-year plan. As you've noted, much of it has disappeared and
the bit that's left (other than Oak Island!) is threatened with increased
development in the Willamette Valley. It's often found on well-drained,
south-facing slopes in the valley - ideal view lots.

-Don Baccus-