I saw three crows harassing a pileated woodpecker at the 40th st. transit
center in Redmond.

The pileated was working around one of the few remaining trees on the site,
a Doug fir ~1.5' dbh. After ~ 5 minutes three crows flew up and drove the
Pileated a short distance to the South into a cluster smaller deciduous
trees. The crows seemed to take a minute or two to goof off, and then flew
over to clear the Pileated out of that sanctuary. The pileated returned to
the original fir, and one crow pursued . . . the crow pressed home the
attack, forcing the pileated to circle twice for altitude, and then it
headed North above 156th and left the area.

The pileated seemed to be a small individual, even before the crows showed
up. When they did, it was clear that the pileated was sub-crow sized.

Despite the unfortunate interactions, it was a spectacular display.

Crows suck.

The setting for this drama was until recently a pretty good bit of suburban
habitat, a heavy wooded wetland. A raptor nest used to be visible in there
in the wintertime, from buildings to the East. It may have belonged the
redtail hawks that can often be seen perched on the streetlight posts around
the 148th St and SR 520 interchange.

Now the place has been pretty much entirely paved. An acre or more of this
pavement is one of those big stupid bus turn-arounds, that waste time,
pollute the atmosphere and nauseate the bus passengers. As a daily rider,
this type of architecture seems to me to be designed to discourage ridership
by making sure the bus is as slow as possible. I am tempted to conclude
that some really cynical pro-sprawl lobby is behind it.

RFV


-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Rachel Lawson
Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 5:19 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Crows kill Bald Eagle in Kirkland


I was volunteering at the Seattle Audubon Nature Shop this morning, when a
woman from Kirkland brought in a dead Bald Eagle. She said that the eagle
had been trying to rob a crows' nest, and was attacked and killed by a
multitude of crows. The eagle tried again and again to get the crow babies
even as it was being attacked. It still had nestling crow bodies clutched
in its talons. A neighbor told the woman that a pair of eagles had been in
the area for awhile. I don't know what condition the eagle was in (I
should have checked), or whether it may have had young in a nest of its
own. I wonder if desperation drove it to keep trying to get the crow
babies instead of escaping.

Another Audubon volunteer took the eagle to the Burke Museum, whence it
will be sent the federal repository for eagle remains.

Rachel Lawson
Seattle
RachelLawson at softhome.net