Hi Robert,
Actually, the pileated woodpecker perched on the totem pole struck me more than the snow geese sighting! I've seen only two pileated woodpeckers here, years apart. My riparian area had trees removed a long time ago in the effort to fulfill Dr. Henry Smith's dream of a "New Holland" in the Snohomish River watershed (boy,did the river object to that!). The Army Corps of Engineers did us one better in the illogic category by topping the cottonwoods and bigleaf maples on the river at 30 feet (apparently a standard height for bankside trees in the world of magic numbers). Only the Bald Eagle Protection Act and lack of access saved some trees from the saw. I saw both pileated woodpeckers on the mighty twin stumps of an expired bigleaf maple that grew for likely decades on my dike (without ever causing a breach, thank you). As a newbie birder, I am a little puzzled about the fever to chase down the elusive (and probably extinct) ivory billed woodpecker, while a living (albeit smaller) relative is losing habitat daily. We seemed more anxious to say we didn't make a permanent, fatal mistake, than to stop making another permanent, fatal mistake.

I keep planting trees, researching bird and animal behavior and getting input and lessons learned from restorationists on habitat design, in the hope of providing a place on my modest acreage for beautiful and increasingly uncommon birds like the pileated. Thank you for sharing the image of the bird you saw!

There are still fewer snow geese (though some sizeable flocks) than I remember seeing on Fir Island. A duck hunter I spoke with who was a lifer in the area said the snow geese never used to come on land- they would stay out on saltwater and the around islands, eating "saltwater grass" (eelgrass?). He said hunters would occasionally "bag a few" at the river mouth, but that there weren't hunts on land. He thought they started coming inland everywhere because some birds that overwintered in Sacramento Valley got used to eating in ag fields. He also heard at a talk that Spartina infestation had something to do with it. It would be interesting to know if the observation about changing feeding areas is true.

There were trumpeter swans in small groups throughout the Tualco Valley, one flock interspersed with Canada geese. We saw a flock of trumpeters in Arlington in a cornfield on 530 as we were going to pick up a load of hay. There were about 18 birds, including 4 grey ones.


Monica


-----Original Message-----
>From: Robert Cleland <cleland at u.washington.edu>
>Sent: Nov 28, 2010 9:39 PM
>To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Vancouver birds
>
>Yesterday we visited the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver. After
>a hard rain shower, we went out to see the outdoor totempoles. As we were
>standing there, enjoying a rainbow, I heard the uneven pecking sound of a
>Pileated Woodpecker. Looking up, there was the bird at the top of a
>totem. What a sight! It then flew to a lower totem that had a raven
>figure a the top, and it sat with its bill aligned to that of the raven.
> Today, in Richmond, south of the airport, we found a flock of more
>than 100 Snow Geese, on a school playground just south of Granville and W
>of No. 2 Street. Locals tell me that this flocks is around all winter. I
>didn't know that snow geese were present in such an urban environment. If
>you get to Richmond, it's worth finding the flock, as they are right by
>the road and would make great pictures.
>
> ************************
> Robert Cleland
>
> Professor (Emeritus), Biology Dept. Box 355325
> Univ. of Washington
> Seattle, WA 98195-5325
> Phone (206) 543-6105; FAX (206) 685-1728
>
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