1977 Walter D. Koenig 6 Melanerpes formicivorus Arnold 3 Hastings Reservation (13 June) 1135. 2 Grifts showed up right away in the granary: ①♂ LB/M #205 and ②♂ LB/M #204. 1155. Same 2 grifts plus ③♀ LP-wm #120 in granary. 1355. ①♀ 204, a ♀, and ④♂ DB/wm #123 in granary. ♂123 eating an acorn peacefully. That's what I suspected: UA2 birds are getting some extra acorns from A3. (Of course, the precise relationship here is still unclear at best). 1250. 2♀♀: ⑤♀ Mauve/ LP.Red #207 and ⑥♀ Red/ #128. 1330. ⑦♀ M/or #289. 1400. That probably isn't everybody (I particularly have to find the untended ♀, and catch the ♀ at UA2 to show they aren't the same bird) but it should do until the babies here hatch in another week or so. 16 June See UA2 notes for brief discussion of the split to UA2. Purge. ⑧♀121,123, and 126 → all Moved to UA2 ≈4 April 1977 ± 2 weeks. 17 June 1800. After just discovering the failure at UA2 and noting nobody in the hole here, I went up to discover that the nest has failed here as well. Inside were broken eggshells, indicating that hatching had indeed occurred, but otherwise rien. Suddenly it occurs to me that conditions up here (meaning presumably insect abundance, weather, or both) must be much worse this year that I'd thought; if A3 loses its babies right away no wonder Lambert hasn't even tried! (Making Big Tree's feat of fledging 3 even more impressive!) With only A1's 2nd attempt totally in the air, the Arnold groups may fledge no more than 8 babies altogether this year,