Thursday, May 23, 2019

Woodpecker Day

Sometimes one can find wild birds in the most unusual places.  One of my friends mentioned she'd spotted a huge variety of woodpeckers in a local natural area.  Sandwiched in between a FedEx facility and an asphalt plant, it seemed an unlikely place for so many birds to live.


Spotted Towhee taking a bath in a puddle

When I told Cheri, my neighbor and photography friend, she was very interested in checking the place out.  So early one morning in April, we did just that.  It was a cold, rainy day, and I had my doubts any birds would be out in such nasty weather (I wasn't too sure I wanted to be out in it either!)


A Pileated woodpecker!

When we first wandered through the old road that served as a trail there wasn't a bird to be found.  One trail brought us to the Columbia River's banks, and here Cheri spotted a couple of eagles soaring through the air.  But I wasn't fast enough to capture them.  My only image came when a spotted towhee landed close by and began splashing around in a puddle.  (Which became one of my favorites from the day)

I was ready to admit defeat, but Cheri was determined to find some woodpeckers.


Pileated woodpecker inspecting a hole in this tree

We followed another side trail deep into the woods.  It was here Cheri heard the distinctive "knock knock" sound of a woodpecker on a tree.  She grabbed her binoculars and spotted our first woodpecker - not just any woodpecker, this one was a Pileated woodpecker.  Being a beginning birder, I didn't realize that seeing one in the wild was rare.


Red-breasted Sapsucker

Cheri located the tree that the woodpecker was pounding on.  The bird was tearing off pieces of moss and stuffing them into a hole in the tree.  A few minutes later, this woodpecker was joined by another - the female Cheri guessed.  A woodpecker couple!  We clicked away with our cameras.  Cheri was so excited.  She made plans to return in another month and look for babies.


Juvenile Bald Eagle

Although the rain sprinkled intermittently, this woodpecker sighting had us both fired up to look for more birds.  After a bit more walking, I noticed a few red-headed birds on a nearby tree.  Turned out they were another species of woodpecker, the red-breasted sapsucker.  Those birds moved so fast, I only got one halfway decent image. 


Wood Duck

Then Cheri spotted a wood duck couple perched on top of an old dead tree.  The brightly colored male was so pretty, I wished they were a bit closer for better images.  (Lucky for me, I had a wood duck couple land in our backyard a few days later)

Our last woodpecker sighting came as Cheri and I were walking back towards the parking area.  Cheri spotted a striking black and white bird hopping around the trunk of a tree.  Turned out this one was a hairy woodpecker (Never knew there was such a wide variety - I learned a lot about woodpeckers that day!)


Hairy woodpecker

Lucky for us, an icky, rainy day didn't stop the birds from coming out of hiding.  The lack of leaves on the trees helped us with bird spotting.  We'd return a month later to find thick spring greenery hiding our feathery friends.

Another successful day of bird photography!  And - bonus - Cheri's fit bit said we'd walked a total of four miles, so I included it as one of the hikes for my 52 hike challenge.  #hikenumber9


16 comments:

  1. You got some great shots! Every once in a while a pileated woodpecker visits our yard.

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  2. Awesome photo's, just checked the last blog as well and the photo's in that are no less awesome especially that Bald Eagle looking at you. That is some lens on the tripod. Biggest I pack is 100-400

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  3. Lovely photos. I am glad it was worth the effort on a rainy day.

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  4. ...the Wood Duck up in the tree, what a wonderful sight!

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  5. Hello, Linda! Your birds photos are lovely, I enjoyed them all. Great sightings and hike too. Enjoy your day. Wishing you a Happy Memorial Day weekend!

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  6. Beautiful capture. Doctor of the forest:)

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  7. Those are beautiful birds, and you certainly got some great shots of them.

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  8. Yes the best birding is when the leaves are just budding! You got some beautiful photos...that mud puddle bird bath made me smile:)

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  9. Gorgeous photos! The first photo is just great. Woodpeckers are awesome birds. The Wood duck is a beautiful looking bird.

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  10. Hello Linda, I love your bird photos. The woodpeckers are gorgeous, love the wood duck and the eagle. One of my favorites is the Red-breasted Sapsucker, a beautiful bird. Thanks for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day. Have a great new week ahead. PS, thanks for your visit and comment.

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  11. Great success on such a miserable day. I know your frustration with the birds not staying still long enough.
    Google has just informed me that there are at least 200 species of Woodpecker. Keep searching.

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  12. Great selection of wildlife and all birds I've never seen before as wildlife programmes here only cover large North American animals, like bison, elk etc. Gives added bonus to any walk when you have other things to look out for on trips.

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  13. Those are some great pictures! When I worked in Florida we were always on the lookout for red cockaded woodpeckers, which were endangered. Sadly we never found one!

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  14. Wonderful photos. Woodpeckers are so industrious. I'd love the see baby woodpeckers soemday--hope you'll go back and photograph them.

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  15. We have a few woodpecker varieties over here in the UK but they are very hard to spot. Always enjoy hearing them banging away at the trees, a very distinctive sound

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