Bert Guttman wrote:

>I was astonished to see a Pileated Woodpecker doing what, to me, is a very
>unwoodpeckerlike thing to do. It was moving around in the branches of a
>small tree (which I can't identify immediately), just like a passerine, and
>eating the berries.
_____

When I moved to Victoria 21 years ago, I brought with me from my Burnaby
yard a volunteer seedling Dogwood tree (Cornus nuttallii). It took 15 years
for this tree to set its first flowers, (the Official Flower of British
Columbia). They soon ripened into tight heads of bright red fleshy seeds.
A Pileated Woodpecker, the first for my yard-list, appeared out of nowhere
and, between "koik-koiks", proceeded to eat every seed from every head. A
great sight and an eye-opener for me.

Bryan Gates, Victoria bgates at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca