Black-backed woodpeckers in Mammoth

Observers: Brian Elliott, Janice Elliott, Gary Charlton
Email: brianelli@aol.com
Verification: MONO
Remote Name: 71.104.234.52
Date: 07/26/2007
Time: 02:00 AM -0400

Sighting

We observed Black-backed woodpeckers on three consecutive days this week on Panorama Dome in Mammoth. My wife, Janice, found a male on Monday morning, July 23, at about 10 AM near the summit of Panorama Dome. She was enjoying the quiet below the summit on a rock near the tree with a small sign the reads Panorama Dome. A male Black-backed flew in and landed on a large dead red fir and gave her a twenty minute show. She brought myself and a friend, Gary, up the dome the next morning, Tuesday, July 24. We arrived at 9AM and at 9:30 AM we heard a woodpecker and after a bit of searching found a female Black-backed about 100 ft. down the trail from the sign. The bird was working over the bark of a distressed fir tree; not all the way dead but obviously dying. We got a twenty minute show before leaving. We walked with Gary back to his car (he had to leave) and Janice and I walked back up to the dome to see if we could find the male. The female was still there but no male showed up. We came back to the same spot on Wednesday morning, July 25. We arrived at 9 AM and and about 10 AM we heard a woodpecker hammering away and found the male on the same tree the female was on the previous day. The male stayed for about 10 minutes before flying to another tree. Brian Elliott Upland, CA