Greetings,

While observing the pied-billed grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) nesting at
Green Lake (Seattle) I try to keep my distance and be inconspicuous. I
observe through a scope from some distance. With all the disturbances the
birds have to get used to, I don't want to add to it and run the risk of
observing nothing but disturbed behavior.

This morning at 6:30, while observing the nest near the Aurora Avenue
crosswalk, I heard a downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) calling. I looked
up in time to see a bird flying across Aurora Avenue in my direction.
Standing real still, I tried not to act surprised when the adult male
alighted on the left sleeve of my T-shirt...I looked at him, he looked at
me, I estimate a good 10 seconds, before he decided something was amiss.
Apparently not too terribly alarmed though, he flew to the tree on my right
side (only 1/2 m away) and sat there for a while, before proceeding with
regular foraging behavior all around the area. I've observed downies up
close before, but never from the vantage point of a pseudo-perch.

I guess I had him fooled...

Martin Muller
MartinMuller at email.msn.com