Trileigh, The creepers very likely have a nest near the point they have so unbelievably conceiled themselves. I have seen maybe a dozen or so Brown Creeper nests over the past 30 years and all but one of them was below the 5 ft. mark on the nest tree. It is amazing how a 4X4 inch piece of bark pulled only an inch off the tree and still attached becomes an ideal nesting space for these birds; not only that they usually have 2 exits - front and back - from the nest. For anyone who hasn't checked these out it is well worth it; the link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trileigh . The birds appear to be nothing more than tree bark with the wings cleverly used to and posed to look like moss or lichen growing on the bark, or even a dripping patch of sap. Their camo is in the same class or better than Ptarmagin. Thanks for sharing! Rob

Rob Conway
SW Portland
45.46?N 122.68?W (Elev. 473ft)
robin_birder at hotmail.com



From: TRI at seattleu.edu
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2012 11:51:00 -0700
Subject: [Tweeters] Brown Creepers in concealment posture, Lincoln Park



Brown Creepers in concealment posture, Lincoln Park


Hi Tweets,



I was in a clearing in Lincoln Park the other day, near the base of a Doug Fir, photographing a very cooperative Pacific-slope Flycatcher. I wasn?t surprised to see a couple of Brown Creepers fly to the bottom of the tree and start to work their way up it, since I knew they liked this particular tree. But I was surprised when one flew back to the bottom, not far from where I was very obviously standing, then flattened itself against the trunk and laid its head sideways. If I hadn?t watched this but had just come upon it, I would have thought it was dead (if I?d noticed it at all, it blended in so well). After a while, it got back up and worked its way up the tree. It did this a couple more times, then a second one came and also flattened itself in what I learned later was a concealment behavior, so both birds at once were flattened against the bark, perhaps 18? apart. (Unfortunately, I only had my 300mm lens and couldn?t tiptoe back far enough to photograph both birds at once.)



Later a friend told me he?s seen what he thinks is a Creeper nest crack in that tree. Is that the most likely explanation for this behavior? I was so startled to see the birds basically fly toward me and then seem to try to hide, when they would have stayed a lot more hidden if they?d just kept to the side of the tree away from me.



Photos are at flickr.com/photos/trileigh.



Good birding to all,

Trileigh



^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Trileigh Tucker

Lincoln Park, West Seattle

Naturalpresence.wordpress.com




_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters