Hi Tweets,

This year I've observed woodpecker behavior on two occasions I thought
noteworthy.

Yesterday a Red- breasted Sapsucker was working logs in a slash pile in
a new clear cut. Eventually the bird ended up at the very top of the
pile. Expecting it to relocate at this point, I was quite surprised
by what happened next. The bird began "flycatching", ie hawking
insects out of the air and returning to the same perch. The bird did
this three times, each time flying up and away from it's perch 30 to
50 feet, and returning to the same exact perch each time. The three
flights occurred in the span of about 5 minutes. Eventually it left
the pile and flew into nearby trees. Perhaps someone knows how common
such feeding behaviour is for sapsuckers ? In any case, was the
first instance I had ever witnessed.

Earlier this spring I observed a Hairy Woodpecker working the dead top
of an alder at the edge of the yard during several consecutive days.
Eventually the bird excavated a cavity that appeared suitable for
nesting, as the entire bird would disappear into it at times, and
then exit head first to expel wood chips. The cavity faced west,
and I scoped it regularly , during evenings as it was illuminated by
the setting sun. One day I saw something I could have never
imagined. After watching the cavity for about ten minutes the
woodpecker appeared, apparently just returned to its cavity, it
immediately began repeatedly calling and seeming quite excited as it
perched near its apparent nest hole. It looked in, pulled its head
out and continued to alarm call, and repeated this action several
times. Finally, after about one minute or less, it entered the
cavity about half way, its tail sticking out, then the bird backed
out and I was most surprised to see it was holding a Red-breasted
Nuthatch in its beak ! The scope was at 20 power about 60 feet from
the cavity, so I had an excellent well lighted view. With a quick
flick of the woodpeckers head, the nuthatch escaped, or more likely
was set loose, because as unusual as this was to witness, what
happened next was equally surprising. The nuthatch did not seem very
put out by this interaction in the least . Rather than flee as I
expected, the nuthatch simply dropped down the tree about 30 feet and
began foraging, eventually continuing back up the tree , closer and
closer to the woodpecker, still at the cavity. When it got within
about 10 feet of the woodpecker, the nuthatch moved to a nearby tree
and continued foraging. The woodpecker remained near the cavity but
stopped calling. In hindsight, seems as though this may have not
been the first time these two birds crossed paths, and I wonder just
how often this kind of interaction takes place between these two
species. The cavity was observed for several weeks following, and
was never used as a nest cavity by either woodpecker or nuthatch.

Having the privilege to be connected with such things is why I bird.
Events such as these, that were taking place on the very day my
great-grandfather's grandfather was born.

Stan Kostka
lynnandstan at earthlink.net
Arlington WA