The Red-headed Woodpecker is a bird that I have only glimpsed, generally flying away from me. Then a few weeks ago I saw two in less than ten minutes!
The second one, perhaps a mate to the first, tormented Ted and me with knocking that we could not locate. Who knew they could make such a racket inside a tree?
Once out of the cavity he stuck to the shady side of the tree.
The Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are industrious and fun to watch when feeding in plain view.
This one was in the drinking phase of his routine, from holes previously made in the bark.
Holding still on a short break I got a nice profile view showing off that sturdy beak and beautiful color pattern.
They tend to circle the tree, moving up and down, enough to make the photographer dizzy guessing where they will reappear.
I didn’t have a great view when I first spotted this pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers. I was pretty sure the one on the right zipped into that hole while I maneuvered around the tree between us.
I watched for him to come out before turning my attention to the other one as he was pecking on the tree. Then I could hear the second one calling.
The question then was to keep watching the first subject or risk missing some action there and look for the second. I succumbed to looking and he eventually popped up behind this branch. Or was there the whole time and I just didn’t notice.
He quickly flew off. Meanwhile the first one had moved a little higher, paused a moment, then also flew off.
I heard a number of woodpeckers as I wandered along the boardwalk though the Bald Cypress forest at Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
The only one I spotted for more than a second was this Pileated Woodpecker who was in view for less then a minute.
I do love that flash of red.
Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
January 2, 2020
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers feed at sapwells, shallow holes they have drilled in tree’s bark.
Like other woodpeckers, Sapsuckers are industrious, and usually their work is in tidy rows.
Check out his sharp beak and the spread of his foot!
As the sapsucker worked around the tree additional sapwells came into view.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
I was startled when this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew over my shoulder so close I could have touched him.
He perched on a limb overhanging the trail just ahead of me and had a look around. Whatever he was looking for wasn’t in the immediate vicinity and shortly he continued on his way.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are named for their behavior of drilling small holes in trees then drinking the sap that runs into the wells. They get most of their food that way but also feed on insects they find under tree bark.
I’ve seen them peck at bark, mostly on the rough-barked trees and was surprised to see this one bobbing into a tree cavity. He was just about disappearing from my view as he reached in.
I didn’t see what, if anything, the Sapsucker was finding, but he kept at it for longer than I watched.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers visually blend into the surface of the rough-barked trees. These two images were taken in different places over a month apart.
I heard the tat-tat-tat of pecking at the bark first, then watched for the flash of red to help me spot them. Sapsuckers tend to spiral around the tree looking for food, sometimes at a pretty fast pace leaving the photographer to guess where they will pop back around.
The Red-bellied Woodpecker didn’t give up with his Magnolia Seed Berry.
There must be a spot in this thick barked tree to lodge this berry!
Even when he found a spot he wasn’t satisfied, and this time he may have lost it for good.
The ground was covered with these Magnolia berries so he could easily try with another.
This is the third and final post in this series.
See the first post here: Red-bellied Woodpecker With Magnolia Seed Berry
See the second post here: Red-bellied Woodpecker Keeps Trying
The Red-bellied Woodpecker from Wednesday’s Magnolia Seed Berry post kept looking for a place to lodge his find in a dead tree branch above me.
He picked a pretty lichen covered perch but could not find a useful spot to put that berry.
A couple of times I thought he had lost it in a hollow place in the branch, but he eventually got it back.
After a few more unsuccessful tries he scanned for another spot.
