I had a rarity for yard birds yesterday. I heard a Hairy Woodpecker pinking, but when I looked up the first bird I saw was a Brown Creeper going up a walnut tree. I later located the Hairy on the other side of a tree above him. Haven't had either in the yard for several years, and now both at once and without binoculars. I normally don't get HAWP unless the borer bees have been active on the gate and the Hairy comes along and decides to dig out a six-inch channel to locate the larvae. Of course people with shake siding who don't treat it for borer bees then get upset with the woodpecker when he does this. Another feeding frenzy to watch for in the next six weeks is when your peonies are about to bloom. Big black ants crawling all over the buds are a necessary synergy for the buds to open, and that can bring a Great Crested Flycatcher down for an ant feast for him and a close and personal look for you. Watch for it. I'm not sure what ants do to help the peony to burst from its bud, whether they chomp on the bud case or lap up some sweet exudescence that is keeping them sealed (I'm betting on the latter). Was anybody out there awake during botany? James Brooks Bear Run Washington County ************************************************* BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at: http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5 This is a regional birding list sponsored by the Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. -------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds. To post to this mailing list, simply send an email to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. -------------------------------------------------- Wallace Coffey, Moderator wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (423)764-****