1979 Walter D. Koenig Melanerpes formicivorus Road 1 Hastings Reservation (17 September) 1615. Back now. All seems pretty quiet. 2 November 130. Counted stores: Main tree: 431. (None seen elsewhere). Those birds aren't really into it yet, apparently. 5 November 1015. Watching from hide. 1021. ① ♀ DB-wht (ch)/Wht #269 in Valley Oak up toward Valhalla. 1040. Second ♀ here with ♂269: ② ♀ yel-bk/yel #383 from R3! Both ♀♀ now in granary working stores. 1045. ③♂ or /DB-yel #294 in sycamore perch tree. 1100. ♀383 still here looking quite at home. The birds are flitting around a fair amount but do not seem to be storing any acorns to speak of. 1200. Leaving for a quick check of the area. Nobody here now. No sign of 3486; also, why aren't these birds storing? 9 November 1100. Watching again from the hide. 1105. All (?) 3 birds together in Valley Oak up behind me: ①♂ Or/DB-wht#294, ② ♀ yel-da/yel #383, ③ ♂m, #269. 130. Well. This was not a lengthy watch but the results are nonetheless consistent with the hypothesis that 3486 is kerplut. Leaving. Still no sign of large-scale storing. 18 December 1400. Counted stores: Main tree: 1085 Other: 144 Not bad, but still plenty of room for more, I'd say. I took a sample of ~65 acorns from the granary and replaced them with some of my own. In doing so I noted a lot of acorns stored in cracks - at least 150-200 in the area I was checking out. I would therefore guess that this group is somewhat better off than my count indicates.