daveedoe Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 BTW on the last picture there are branches cut off with a saw, just wondering if you cut them off to better show the stripped bark. Those wounds look more severe than what a woodpecker could do. Was there any logging recently in the area of that road. Maybe a big piece of logging equipment did a three point turn. lol
daveedoe Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 well I just googled woodpecker tree damage and the pileated can do some major damage, I guess it could be from the pileated woodpecker.
BigTreeWalker Posted May 18, 2015 Posted May 18, 2015 Dave, that last tree was next to the main logging road and it was near a bough cutting area. I just included it to show a porcupine chewed tree. The other trees were beside a very bad side road where no one had probably driven for over a year.
BigTreeWalker Posted May 18, 2015 Posted May 18, 2015 Here's an image very close to what we saw. It's even a pine tree, with a very good image of the culprit. http://jackmaryetc.com/Birds/images/pileated3.jpg
SWWASAS Posted May 18, 2015 BFF Patron Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) Have to watch for that red headed pileated. Don't you just love the diversity of wildlife? Nearly every trip I have into the field I run into something I have not seen before. I have another type of wood ****** that seems to be in love with it's own image and keeps pecking at the shiny metal flashing around the top of my chimney. Strange behavior for a bird looking for insects. A couple of times some woodpecker has pecked very slowly or got the grub in one of the first couple of pecks so all you get is one or two knocks. That gets you looking around but if you wait they will resume normal pecking. I wonder how many "BF knocks" are really woodpeckers? Edited May 18, 2015 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT
BigTreeWalker Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 The rhythm the Pileated Woodpeckers peck at isn't real fast and sometimes they pause between pecks. They'll usually give themselves away with their loud yak, yak, yak, call. I think they were the inspiration for Woody Woodpecker. ;-)
BC witness Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 (edited) I had the afternoon off, so I called up a newbie to our group, who I had met last week at the Finding Bigfoot townhall meeting when it was shooting here. I picked him up at his home in Agassiz, and we drove east for some distance to the location of a rock lobbing/sighting that was reported to Thomas Steenburg and Bigfoothunter very shortly after it happened, back on Sep. 18, 2008. The site is well off pavement, on a logging and powerline access road. The gist of the report was that a bear hunter was walking past a marshy area, on the road, when a noise from his left made him look that way, and he saw a football size boulder tumbling through the air towards him. As the rock splashed into the water and muck just yards in front of him, he caught a glimpse of a large dark shape fleeing through the heavy underbrush on the far side of the wet area, about 60 feet away. He was baffled by this behavior, and left the spot, back to his truck, drove to his nearby home, and after some online searching, contacted Bigfoothunter to report the encounter. I believe that is was the next day, or very shortly after, that BFH and Thomas accompanied the hunter back to the site to investigate. Thomas skirted the far side of the swamp, and found a series of large tracks in the softer ground near the water, becoming trampled grass and plants, as the trail reached firmer ground. He has photos of these, though I'm not sure if they're posted anywhere. He even waded through the fetid marsh muck, at least waist deep, in the area where the hunter said the rock landed, and found a few rocks, non of which the hunter felt were big enough to be the one he saw in the air. I related the above to Jim, the new guy, as we stood at the very spot, and he was enthralled. We took note of the huge amount of cat tails and skunk cabbage growing all over the marsh. I had parked the truck off the main road, as there were logging trucks active today, and we noted the spot I had parked was an old spur road that led into a 5 or 6 year old clearcut on the hillside above the marsh, so we hiked up there to get a good view over the terrain. After some time there, we turned to come back down, and spotted 3 blacktail deer feeding in a spur on the opposite side of the cut, 150 yards away. They had seen us, but seemed to feel we were far enough away to be safe, but as our path took us to within 60 yards, they became edgy , and moved into the sparse cover. Two of the three were bucks, with 3" of velvet covered antlers sprouting between their ears. Back at the truck, we had seen no further logging trucks coming down, so we proceeded up the road to the end of the active area, where we had a good view over the creek valley to the opposite slope, where there were a number of old , reforested cut blocks. We got out to scan the hillsides with our binocs, and heard a raven calling in the valley. Jim asked if we used calling as a ploy to get responses, and I answered in the negative, explaining that we had no idea what our calls might mean to any Sasquatch in earshot. I could see that he was disappointed, so I invited him to give it a try. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and let go with a very impressive whooping bellow! It echoed across the valley, and as the echo faded there was a very clear "WHOOP whoop whoop" from the far hillside. He repeated the call, and got the same response again. I then told him that he was now officially engaged to the barred owl that had answered his mating call. ;-) It was now getting to be time to head home, so we headed back down the mountain, and as we approached the marsh, I spotted a grouse at the edge of the road, stopped, and pointed it out to Jim. He spotted 3 chicks just in the grass ahead of the hen, so we watched as they crossed the road, one after the other, with mama doing a tail spread display to distract us from her babies. Once they had safely crossed, I eased the truck by slowly, as far to the opposite side from them as I could get, worried that the hen might spook and fly away, leaving the chicks vulnerable, but she held her ground as the tires passed within 3 feet of her. We drove back to the main road, with Jim telling me how pleased he was with his first "Squatchin" outing, and we went home to dinner. I was so into my role as "guide", that I neglected to take any pictures, so all you get is text on this one. I'll try to do better next time out. Edited June 3, 2015 by BC witness 1
BigTreeWalker Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 It was a good narrative even without the pictures BC. Thanks.
SWWASAS Posted June 3, 2015 BFF Patron Posted June 3, 2015 (edited) I wonder how many BFRO people are officially engaged to barred owls? Good story. Since we have no idea what BF calls mean, I don't want to accidently make one that gets me engaged to one. I would guess that BF honeymoons have some rough monkeying around. Yuk yuk yuk! Edited June 3, 2015 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT
Guest Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 Heh heh, you'd think I'd have heard enough barred owls by now, but they still startle me a bit, and it takes the brain a couple of seconds to do the "click click, whirr whirr" processing and come back with "barred owl." It's funny, coyotes sounding off does not have same effect, but deer blowing and snorting often does.
BC witness Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 I wonder how many BFRO people are officially engaged to barred owls? Good story. Since we have no idea what BF calls mean, I don't want to accidently make one that gets me engaged to one. I would guess that BF honeymoons have some rough monkeying around. Yuk yuk yuk! Exactly the point I was making to Jim, we have no idea what we're saying with our calls, could be "Your mother dresses you funny", or "I can whip your butt in a NY second". I think he's been watching a lot of FB and Survivorman: Bigfoot, as he commented more than once on how "Squatchy" the area looked. On the other hand, as a retired LEO, he is very observant of details, and connects the dots very quickly. I think he'll be a valuable addition to the "team". Heh heh, you'd think I'd have heard enough barred owls by now, but they still startle me a bit, and it takes the brain a couple of seconds to do the "click click, whirr whirr" processing and come back with "barred owl." It's funny, coyotes sounding off does not have same effect, but deer blowing and snorting often does. Yep, the first WHOOP definitely perked my ears up, too, but the two softer folow-ons clued me in right after. The big heart stopper for me is flushing a grouse that you hadn't seen from a yard in front of you!
Guest Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 I remember using the term squatchy before those shows came out, kind of shorthand for an evaluation of food and water sources and cover in a particular area.
BC witness Posted June 3, 2015 Author Posted June 3, 2015 I agree, Flashman, but it's overuse on FB makes it kind of cringe-worthy now. I know Thomas grits his teeth every time he hears it.
daveedoe Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 Great report BC. Having a grouse fly up from your feet does get the heart pumping. I have never understood the need to do calls or wood knocks. To many people in my opinion, getting these crazy ideas from the TV shows. I can just see it a group over here banging trees and howling to a group over there doing the same. When I'm out there I love to listen to what the forest has to offer. 1
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