1981 R.L. Munne Melanerpes formicivorus Lambert Hastings Reservation 7 Feb Start watch 1130. These guys have remarkably few acorns remaining. 1245. Not a sign of anyone. 30 Aug Boy, lots of detailed notes for these guys. Starting watch 0805. 0915. Another big zero. Actually, there were birds here, a couple of banded juvs (suspect A1 or F4) a Q adult, and a ♂NB, then a juv NB, but nobody acted like they belonged here. Later at A1 I saw A1 birds commuting back and forth to Lambert 14 Oct Watching 0725. No acorns stored here yet: Maybe this territory is abandoned. Surprising, since the acorn censusing here revealed a shit load of acorns here. 0730, I spoke too soon. A POWER STRUGGLE?! First bird I find is ♂583 " / metal, so the Lambert lineage is still intact. A lot of ♀♀ around, with a fair amount of chasing, but by 0800, still no garricks. It looks like a coalition of 3 ♀NB have the inside track here. One of the three is a very dark-eyed juvenile that seems to have just molted into ♀ plumage. Also seen was a ♂NB J♀660 from A1 (just confirmed ♀ plumage), and perhaps ♀568 mauve-very?? from A1 as well, but I lacked confirmation. In total, participants are: ♂583 5 ♀NB 1♂NB 2 ♀ banded = 9 (2♂♂ 7♀♀). This has probably been going on for some time now, and I'm catching the tail end. → 0805, things very quiet now. I'd say it might be about over, but when I first arrived, I thought I saw ♂583 supplant 1 or 2 of the cooperating ♀NB's. All 3 may not stay (rather, only some might). End 0820