I finally had the opportunity this morning to revisit the grasslands I discovered one week ago in northwestern Wisconsin. Cloverland, Wisconsin near Lake Superior and the Brule River is at the extreme northern range of this bird’s range. In fact, I’ve never seen this kind of bird this far north. Thus, after a three hour wait, my target bird appeared. The Red-Headed Woodpecker appeared to be expecting some mail!
One nice aspect of my “wait” is it was far from boring. The Cloverland township hall is only 30 miles and 35 minutes from the start of I-535 in Duluth. I had never realized grassland birds were this close to my home in the Boreal Forest on the northern edge of Duluth (see prior post with birding map). Here are just a few of the birds found while waiting for “red”!
Eastern Meadowlark Video
Wilson’s Snipe Video
Raven
Brown Thrasher
Eastern Meadowlark
Wilson’s Snipe (the first image was taken as a Marsh Hawk flew over!)
Once again I enjoyed reading one of your posts. FWIW, the Red-headed Woodpecker is the first bird I remember noticing as a boy. It was across the street from my family’s home in Hunter’s Park. Yep, in Duluth – 60 years ago, however.
Charlie et al: While Red Headed Woodpeckers are very rare in NE Minnesota (you were lucky to see one in Hunter’s Park), with some sleuthing (use eBird) they can be found in NW Wisconsin in the Brule / Cloverland area. The reddies are generally late returning birds, and will always prefer farm / meadow areas with some large oak trees around. I won’t look for them till the middle of May.