Conflicts between the needs of birds and human safety aren't limited to
tree-cutting. The chimney in Monroe that hosts the Vaux's Swifts is
apparently going to be demolished because it is at risk of collapsing.
Because the site is an elementary school, the safety of the children is
a big concern. I believe someone from SAS is meeting with the people
involved, to see if somehow the chimney can be saved.

Rachel Lawson
Seattle
RachelWL at msn.com


-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dennis
Paulson
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 10:07 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] poor woodpeckers


I just heard today's BirdNote on woodpeckers, fun listening as always.
Then I came home to see that the neighbors behind us, at the lip of the
Thornton Creek ravine, were cutting off ALL the dead wood on the bigleaf
maples behind their house, all trees in our viewshed. These are the
trunks and branches where both flickers and Pileated Woodpeckers have
nested for years and where, when I heard a Pileated call, I could often
look out and see it up there silhouetted against the sky. I know
Red-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees also nested there.
Now these nest sites are all gone, and I see nothing but green leaves. I
suppose they got the trees pruned for safety reasons, although most
would have fallen into the ravine, not on their house. These are
neighbors very concerned about the world, including the environment, yet
they blithely got rid of all this nesting habitat without a second
thought. This was a reprise of another set of neighbors next to us who
trimmed off all the dead branches of the maple in their yard that had
always been attractive to trunk-pecking birds, Olive-sided Flycatchers,
and other birds that liked open views. We actually asked them not to do
it, but our request fell on deaf ears, as they were more concerned with
branches falling on their children. This is of course a valid concern,
but it certainly doesn't paint a rosy picture for cavity-nesting birds
in settled areas. Sadly, another problem without an apparent solution,
short of a city ordinance that if you cut down dead branches you have to
put up bird boxes to replace them!


-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net