Greeting Tweeters,

Starting late in May as gas prices climbed, I have been walking the 3+ miles to work in "Old Town" Mukilteo as often as possible, taking the bus home in the eveing (otherwise it would take me about 2 hours to puff up the hill :-) - this as my protest against future drilling in the ANWR and like areas. This morning I was treated to excellent views of a Pileated Woodpecker, the first I have seen locally. It was drilling away on the trunk of a dead tree about 15 feet off the Mukilteo Speedway (wooeded area on the sound side of the road) across from the entrance to the middle school. I also heard the exact same sound coming from a short distance away, so I think there were two Pileateds though, with about a mile yet to walk, I didn't have time to hang around to spot the second.

Here is a Great Blue Heron question from my sister who lives on a farm in West Virginia (which I personally think she should turn into a birding resort :-) as it has an amazing variety of niches (e.g., hardwood forest, river habitat, meadows and meadow wetlands as well as farm buildings) and a wonderful variety of species, especially in spring and summer). For several years they have had an adult GBH at their 1 acre pond; this year they have been seeing a smaller GBH also and she just sent me this question. Since breeding season is past, I am wondering what was seen was a "training session." Here is her description of the incident and I have inquired as to how much smaller the "little Blue" is than the "big Blue."

"...Phil was turning down our driveway and noticed the big Blue and the little Blue on the shoulder of the pond. They were jumping up and down in front of one another. When they saw him, one went over the bank and the other flew off. Is this mating or male behavior?..."

Any ideas, Tweets?

Cheers!
Judy
--
Judy Rowe Taylor
Mukilteo, WA
Art is a voice of the heart, a song of the soul.
judyrowetaylor at comcast.net
www.enduringibis.com