Hello. Around mid-day on Sunday the 8th, in the pine woods of the campground
on Wenas Creek, I got long, close looks at a pair of white-headed
woodpeckers. There were many minutes of close viewing, with the birds low on the trees,
fifteen feet and down, and with the female, who stayed longer, doing a lot of
grooming. I was initially attracted to a male red-naped sapsucker flying by
me and landing on a close-by tree, which was quite fortunate. He also ended up
staying there for a long time. His tree trunk had a number of bored holes in
it, of his doing, I presume, and which I inspected later. While watching him
in my glasses, to my happy surprise, a white-headed male landed on the same
tree! After a brief dispute, it then moved over to an adjacent tree. A few
minutes later , the female flew in.

Soon after this great show, I also had a good look at a Townsend's solitaire
nearby. These are all new birds for me, so it was a very good day.

I did not note the name of the campground, but I believe it is well know to
birders looking for woodpeckers.

Bill Boyington
Shoreline, WA
mailto:bboyton at aol.com