[SBB] Hidden Villa Pileated Woodpecker 8/24/2005

["Garth Harwood" <[[email protected]]>]

Hi All,

At 1 PM this afternoon 8/24/2005 I heard the distinctive, very loud flight calls of a Pileated Woodpecker at Hidden Villa, below canopy level along the Creek Trail where it intersects our Grapevine Trail. Positioning myself on an open switchback overlooking the area I keyed in on the single mature Douglas fir tree there and waited. The bird called a couple more times and eventually worked its way up an open section of the tree's trunk, checking each irregularity in the bark for goodies (and finding some). The bird bore the plumage of an adult female, lacking any red in the face, or any brownish tones in the virtually all-black back and upperwings that would indicate a very young bird. After about 1 minute in the open at 200 feet, it flew downstream a bit and disappeared among the foliage of the dense hardwood trees there. I could still hear it ripping into deadwood and calling intermittently behind a screen of foliage when I left at 1:35. A couple of flickers were nearby too, so beware auditory IDs if you try for this bird - those two can be confusing. 

I have been birding this property for over 7 years now and have never before seen any evidence, even old evidence, of PIWO. Although there is a lot of deadwood under the canopy, there are few conifers, which I strongly associate with this species locally. So I presume this is a fluky post-dispersal visit, perhaps by one of the Monte Bello birds. Time will tell.

Other birds encountered today included two lingering Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in the chapparal, and a couple of early Townsend's Warblers in a mixed insectivore flock along the Creek Trail.

Hidden Villa is supposed to re-open to the public after the long summer closure on Thurs. 8/26, but there may be some difficulty accessing the Creek Trail as the upper bridge will be removed and repaired beginning tomorrow. If that's the case, the PIWO area can be accessed by taking the Hostel hiking trail until it joins the top of the Grapevine turnoff, which is how I got there today. (Lovely, but hot!)

Good birding,
Garth Harwood
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