[obol] Help Please: RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER Activity at Ridgefield NWR

[Bill Clemons]

My dear nonagenarian Mom (Olive) and I birded the River "S" Unit at
Ridgefield NWR (~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW Washington;
http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ ).
Of major note today is that Spring (or at least a strong hint thereof)
was in the air.  I was there Thursday and it was very quiet.  Today,
lots of singing was heard, as well as more than a few tweeties
fluttering their wings at potential mates.

Highlight:

Help Please: RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER Activity:

On the N side of the loop road just after Long Lake, we saw
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER activity that I have never seen before.  A
brilliantly creamy yellow bellied, RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was in the
top of a large and leafless tree.  It was repeatedly making itself
Quite Conspicuous.  The best description I could give of this activity
is that it looked like it was "flycatching".  It would fly horizontally
out of the tree, rise higher into the air, and then return back to
either the same trunk or branch or one near by in the same tree.  While
I suppose it is possible that a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER might be
"flycatching," in February, I took this activity to be a deliberate
attempt to gain attention.  "Here I am! Look at me! Aint I pretty!" Is
what this RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER seemed to be emphatically proclaiming.
 On a couple of returns it was seen drumming against the tree.   At
least a couple of other birders also saw the same show.  Am I correct
that this activity is an attention getting display?

Thanks in advance for any input,

Bill Clemons
SW of Portland in Mtn Park
Willclemons AT Yahoo dot com

Complete list of 52 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
Mallard
CINNAMON TEAL  (1 pair in Long Lake)
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser  (1 pair in water control canal after Kiwa)
Common Merganser  (seen in Lake River from the bridge)
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle  (at least 10 seen – 4 adults)
Northern Harrier  (male, fems, and juvs seen)
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK  (heard only, near Hunters Gate)
Red-tailed Hawk
DARK PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK  (near The Blind)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK  (~ 100ft off road, on ground, SE corner )
American Kestrel
American Coot
Killdeer
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER
PILEATED WOODPECKER  (fem in snag on dike NE of entrance station)
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch  (heard in entrance canyon)
Bewick's Wren
WINTER WREN  (seen loudly Singing in entrance canyon)
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER  (maybe a dozen seen, various spots)
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
PURPLE FINCH  (2males, 1 fem, in OR Ash after Kiwa)
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch




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