Subject: [Tweeters] Plieated yard bird Seattle
Date: Jan 1 14:19:47 2011
From: alyssasampson at comcast.net - alyssasampson at comcast.net




Hello,



Not exactly the first bird of the year, but the first new yard bird of the year, a Pileated Woodpecker. While observing lots of activity in the form of busy Steller's Jays, flickers, juncoes,?Anna's Hummingbirds, Bewick's?Wren and other usual yard birds, my husband and I?observed a?Pileated Woodpecker come swooping in over our heads and proceed to poke around?the trees in our neighbors' yards for five minutes or so. It had plenty of red on its head but we were too excited to check a book until after the fact and are not sure if we saw a male or female. I am thinking probably male. Three flickers seemed to be interested in its activity and kept turning up in the vicinity wherever it landed.



We live on NE?94th St. in Maple Leaf and I have to wonder if this is one of the birds that has been visiting Dennis Paulson's yard. If he could please now send us the owl, we'd be most grateful.



We are several blocks from the Thornton Creek greenbelts and the more foresty birds seen there are less?frequent at our house. I did observe some singing Varied Thrushes while walking/running up NE 98th St. yesterday, but have yet to see one in our yard.



Alyssa Sampson

Maple Leaf

Seattle

alyssasampson at comcast.net