Tweets,

This morning at 6:00 I awoke to a familiar (but not welcome) sound. What I was sure was a flicker pounding on the gutters and chimney flashing of my house to make lots of female attracting heavy metal bird music. I've been hospitalized and bed-ridden for several weeks and am now only getting around slowly (major staph infection in my abdomen and ribcage) - but I managed to pull on sweats and slippers to step outside and see if I could get the bird to stop. Imagine my surprise as I stepped out the front door to see directly above me a male Red-breasted Sapsucker pounding away on the gutter - I used pea gravel lightly tossed to try to flush him away - no luck until I scored a direct hit...but then he only moved to the chimney and started over again - he would not stop!

I finally used a long bamboo pole to reach up near enough to him to scare him into the big trees just above the house. I've seen a pair of these birds from my window over the past week exploring some hemlock and alder snags near the house - they have been quite noisy and active despite the continued near-winter conditions. I actually really and truly welcome the presence of these spectacularly beautiful birds...if they just wouldn't play the heavy metal so early in the morning. Add this bird to Flicker, Crow, Stellars Jay, and Downy Woodpecker as drummers I've had in the house band over the past couple of years.Rob Conway Preston / Fall City, WAlatitude 47 32' 20" , longitude -121 54' 42" robin_birder at hotmail.com
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