Bob, tweeters,

On Wednesday Bob asked if he could have seen Wilson's warblers at Green
Lake, Seattle. I happen to know that one: yes. They are seen there regularly
this time of year, I spotted two, Wednesday morning, in the willows near the
Aurora Avenue underpass.

In the next posting Bob wrote:

"At Green Lake this morning, I spotted M&F Hairy woodpeckers going in
and out of a nest cavity in a willow snag" snip

Now I'm intrigued. I've seen hairy woodpeckers at the park only a few times
in winter. We do have downy woodpeckers nesting in two locations in the park
(near the Pitch and Putt and around the Bathhouse Theater areas). Did you
confirm the species by looking at the size (hairy is about 50% bigger again
than downy) and especially the relative size of the bill, compared to head
size? The downy's bill is short, it's length about half the length of the
head from base of bill to back of head (so draw a horizontal line from the
tip of the bill to the back of the head, the bill makes up less than one
third that length). The hairy's bill is much longer. On that same horizontal
line (tip bill to back head) it takes up well over one third, close to half
the length. If they are indeed hairies, would you share the location with me
please? Thanks.

Lastly, Bob wrote about woodpecker fledglings:

"When the young ones emerge, will they hang around the parents and the nest
for some time (so I can get a good look at them), or do they all just head
out and celebrate life, as it were. I assume that the young will follow the
parent around,
like with other birds, but do they return from time to time to the nest? Or
spend the night there?"

My understanding is the young hang out on branches and trunks, initially
near the nest but increasingly following the adults around begging for food,
for up to three weeks, till independence. So yes, you should have plenty
opportunity to observe the young interact with their parents, once they
fledge.

Hope this helps,

Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com