Hello Tweeters,
I just joined Tweeters. I do not live in WA, but I do commute here for
work on weekdays. Occasionally, not as often as I wish, I stay over a
weekend to do some birding. On Sunday I was fortunate enough to run
into a fellow Tweeter whose name I did not get. It was off an exit of
I90 east of Snoqualmie Pass on route to a pass. He showed me the red
breasted sapsucker nesting pair in a snag. We also noted that a swallow
family inhabits a hole or two below that of the sapsucker family - a
bird condo!

I took this gentleman's directions and made my way back to exit 93
(retracing my steps and hoping this to be a rewarding exercise) to find
the black backed woodpecker family in the burn area. I was successful;
it was quite a thrill and a lifer for me. I also spotted many of the
other birds mentioned in another person's Tweeter posting. There was a
male blue bird catching lots of goodies and feeding his family who was
settled into an old woodpecker hole in a very charred tree, virtually
branchless. This tree had the orange marks on it; so did the tree where
the woodpeckers were happily pecking for food, another severely charred
tree. On my drive back to Bellevue I grew concerned that the charred
tree, home to the bluebirds and a good food source for the woodpeckers,
would be felled soon.

I am not going to be here for a weekend for another month or two,
otherwise I would drive back to the spot and personally explain these
concerns to the Mason's, the people who own this land, in hopes that
they might be swayed not to remove these trees, if indeed that is what
the orange marks indicate. Is anyone else willing to do this? Or if
someone can get the actual address quickly, I would gladly appeal to the
Morgan's in a hand written letter?

Burr Toohey

PS - Thank you Mr.x for your help with my finding these woodpeckers!