Last week I came across a new area where Redheaded Woodpeckers were foraging and nesting. There were hundreds of debarked trees; old elms, sycamores, cottonwoods, hackberries, persimmons, and oaks. I noticed one redheaded woodpecker and then a dozen more sharing the same area. One pair was nesting only 4-5 feet above ground; the rest 20-35 feet up. That was the lowest RH Woodpecker nesting I have ever seen. It was dark and raining so I could not use a good setting to “stop” action, so a may photos are not clear or just OOF. Not happy with the photos. There are a lot of photos; no sun until late afternoon:
Posts Tagged ‘red headed’
I found a new Redheaded Woodpecker forage and nesting area
Posted in Wild Birds, wildbirds, tagged araknsas, area, Boston Mountains, creek bottomland, forage, nesting, red headed, Redheaded woodpecker, woodpecker on June 5, 2015| 1 Comment »
Red headed Woodpecker against a fall backdrop
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged against and autumn backdrop, Arkansas, Boston Mountains, parthenon, red headed, red headed woodpecker, red-hraded, woodpecker on October 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
A beautiful and colder morning again finds this Red-headed Woodpecker in Murray Valley against a backdrop of sycamore trees:
A rare closeup glimpse of a Juvenile Red headed Woodpecker – 10/9/14
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, Boston Mountains, first autumn molt, gray head, molt, parthenon, red headed, woodpecker on October 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Until the become adults, Red-headed woodpeckers sport a gray head. Babies are born gray headed. During the first fall, they begin a molt that leaves them completely red headed. This bird is in the in-between stage and I think has a slightly shorter tail that a mature bird:
Got very close to a Red-headed woodpecker yesterday
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged acorns, Arkansas, Boston Mountains, caching, parthenon, red headed, redheaded, woodpecker on October 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »
This guy was calling and caching acorns yesterday; very intent on his work; so intent that I was allowed to approach the tree:
more …… Red-headed Woodpeckers nesting
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged aquatic insects, Arkansas, forage grounds, little buffalo, Little Buffalo River, parthenon, red headed, redheaded, river, woodpecker on June 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I found this pair with 2 nestlings from the car window this morning, over near the Little Buffalo River. They were busy feeding wasps and aquatic insects to the babies. In the final photo, you have to look up and right to see the nest hole and the nestling. This may be the 2nd brood; not sure ??
Red-headed woodpecker pair caring for their nestlings
Posted in The River, Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, feeding nestlings, in forage area, parthenon, red headed, woodpecker on May 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Form the same foraging area I posted about yesterday; this pair is feeding nestings; they work together at this point, and never are both parents gone at the same time. All in all, there are maybe 6 adult redheaded woodpeckers living in the forage area. Taken with a Canon 70D and a Canon EF600L f/4.0 IS and a 1.4X TC.
Red-headed woodpecker using acorns cached in a oak trunk last fall
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged adult redheaded, Arkansas, at the acorn cache, headed, made fall 2013, parthenon, red, red headed, woodpecker on February 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The Redheaded woodpecker are using last fall’s forage which the cached in a stump; very smart of them considering how cold and icy this winter has been. It was a nice day yesterday and today we started out at 10F but have quickly risen into the 40s. This week looks to be a lot warmer with temperatures reaching the mid-60s in a few days:
A 8-9 month old Redheaded Woodpecker
Posted in mountains, Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, Boston Mountains, in February, Newton County, parthenon, red headed, redheaded, woodpecker on February 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »
In a broken off tree in the backyard (first time I’ve seen a Red-headed Woodpecker in the yard), a young red-headed woodpecker !! They are born around the first of June with a completely grey head which they keep for most of the first year until the first molt in early spring the following year; he/she is in the molting process now. Taken with a Canon 1DS Mark III with a Canon 600mm f/4 and a 1.4 TC:
A HOT week on the way
Posted in Weather, Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, in flight, nature, Newton County, outdoors, parthenon, photography, red headed, redheaded, woodpecker on June 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The temperatures are supposed to hover in the mid to upper 90s for afternoon highs starting tomorrow. We completely missed lout on all the rain this Friday and Saturday. It formed east of Newton County, Arkansas. Next chance appears to be next Saturday or Sunday. I am thankful for the rain we received so far this year, but we still need a little rain now and then throughout the summer. The photos show the beautiful coloring of a Red-headed woodpecker in flight including the numerous white wing and body feathers.
We got a few long range (100 yards from tree) photos of a pair of Red-headed woodpeckers feeding thier nestlings yesterday, but, we tried to capture them while in flight to and from the nesting hole (whioch can be seen in one photo). We used a Canon 50D with a 400mm f/5.6 lens (ISO 1600, Speed 1/2,500 of a second):
A persistent young Red Headed Woodpecker
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, buffalo, Little, murray, near, outdoors, red headed, river, valley, waterfalls, woodpecker on February 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Try as I may, I cannot keep this guy from tearing up a rail, even after I tried to repair it ! I’m happy though because the population here is doing real well. Got about an inch of rain last night and early this morning around 4:30 – 5:30 AM with some bright lightening; the creeks and waterfalls will be running today.