Hi everyone,

I'm new to the list, and a relative newcomer to birding. I've been doing serious photography for the last several years and over the last month have been focusing on bird photography (having satisfied a major "lens lust" by acquiring a 500mm image stabilized lens).

Tonight I took a short birding/photography walk on the converted old RR trail in Snoqualmie heading west from the trailhead at the Mount Si golf course. It was a bit breezy and there was not much birdsong, so I wasn't expecting much. However, at the second small bridge on the trail off to the left in a group of five or six dead trees, I found an active Red-Breasted Sapsucker nesting cavity, with a little drama as well. One of the birds would go out for groceries while the other stayed in the nest to fend off the pair of starlings lurking very close to the cavity entrance hole waiting for an opportunity to wreak havoc. There were a couple of tussles near the entrance, but the sapsuckers appeared to be holding their own.

Fortunately, I was in decent camera range and had a clear line of sight to the cavity entrance. You can see a sample of the situation with the following link:

http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=2103699&cat=10455

I'm really enjoying reading the daily list digests and learning a bunch as a result! Hopefully I'll gain a decent level of experience in a relatively short time.

John Tubbs
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com
Snoqualmie, WA