Hi Tweets,

I just returned from my latest effort to find the Three-toed
Woodpecker. Alas, it still remains on my wanted list. However, I
spent a great two hours this morning with four different species, rat-
a-tat-tatting away at the Gifford Campground on Lake Roosevelt.
Michael Hobbs's directions were perfect. Go to the boat launch
parking lot in the campground, which is a quarter mile north of the
Gifford-Inchelium Ferry, and then start walking northeasterly into
the stand of burned pines. I arrived Saturday afternoon about 5
p.m. The place was silent but there was plenty of signs of
woodpecker activity. So I spent the night in Kettle Falls and
returned at 9 a.m. today. Just as I was entering the stand, the
birds started to arrive. The first was a three-toed woodpecker, but
it was the Black-backed species. Then the Downy and Hairy made their
appearance. Finally a female White-headed joined the crowd. She was
actively moving all over the woods, and working several trees from
base of the trunk up into the canopy. The others seemed to be a bit
more methodical in their work. At one point there were Black-
backed, Hairy, and White-headed all working the same tree. Then I
watched a dog fight over another tree between a Black-backed and a
Hairy. I spent quite a while observing the male and female Black-
backeds working fairly low on the trunk of one tree. I could see the
male succeed in pulling a white grub out of the bark and down the
hatch. It was an excellent chance to watch the tap-tap-taps followed
by the sideways push to flake off pieces of the outer bark. With six
birds actively working that small stand of tree, the noise level was
noticeable. But I guess the upper case Three-toed Woodpecker will
await another trip.

Good birding,
Carol Riddell
Edmonds