Category Archives: Year 5

July 4th Bird!

Year 5, ,

Okay, I know it is the 5th of July today, but it is the holiday weekend. This Bald Eagle struck a post for me in an unusual location … deep within an oak tree! Still, kinda cool!

I found this eagle over at the Wisconsin grasslands. My Red-Headed Woodpecker friends were in the expected spot, and this Wilson’s Snipe also struck a nice pose for me!

Upon returning home, one of local woodpecker families was busy showing the kids how to find food. After a short visit to my suet, the three Hairy Woodpeckers (one Dad, and two chicks) moved around and visited some of the dead trees in my yard. Occasionally the parent would feed the chicks, but more often he ignored them.

Finally, two days ago I ventured south to the Minneapolis area to pick us some family arriving from overseas at the airport. I had 20 minutes to bird at Flying Cloud Fields, and while I did not see the Blue Grosbeaks, I did find this Horned Lark.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

The Wonder of Woodpeckers!

Background, Year 5

While we have many year round woodpeckers that grace northern Minnesota’s presence year round, late June and July are the time of Woodpecker Wonder! These neat birds which drill holes in trees are finishing up their nesting and fledging their young. It is fun to watch the young woodpeckers stick their heads out nesting holes as their parents load them up with food. However, this sight requires one to find woodpecker holes which is no easy task.

Yesterday I made a trip over to the Wisconsin Grasslands (Cloverland, Wisconsin) and the Johnson Mitigation Wetlands. This neat habitat area is dramatically different from my Boreal Forest in NE Minnesota, and only a 35 minute drive! As a added bonus, for the past few years I have always been able to find Red Headed Woodpeckers in this area. A review of the range map from Cornell demonstrates my region is at the extreme northern edge of this woodpecker’s range.

Two visits within the last week have yielded a Red Headed pair, and I have their nesting area determined to about a 100×100 foot square. I will find the hole! I’ve made some maps such that you may enjoy this area!

This second map is specific to the Red Headed Woodpeckers. The lines indicate areas where I have repeatedly seen these birds feeding on fence posts and telephone poles.

I also found a tree from which an American Kestrel hunts. It’s nice to capture an image of the Sparrowhawk not on a power line.

Finally, when I returned to my home on Amity Creek, back in the Boreal Forest, another woodpecker demanded equal access from my camera. While trying to track down my Pileated Woodpecker nest hole, this Sapsucker gave me some great photo opps!

Waiting for Godot!

Year 5,

Well … sort of. My love-sick male red-bellied woodpecker found a mate. On Friday I learned their chicks had hatched, but the youngsters have not yet appeared at the nest hole opening. Given today’s pouring rain, I have not checked the nest hole. Now if I could only find the nest holes for the Red-Headed and Pileated Woodpecker pairs I have been watching. Godot will eventually arrive!

The Red-Bellied Woodpecker Nest Hole

My Red-Headed Woodpecker friend.

A Savannah Sparrow seen on a trip to Sax-Zim late last week.