I just took a number of pictures of the bird in the low light of late afternoon. In a way this is even more exciting the other pictures Lorna took. Blown up, the other definitely had a red patch on the mustache, which means it was a male. This one does not. It is a female. Guys, we have a pair!
7 comments:
This is pretty exciting!
a lovely image as well. keep us posted...
Very Cool! That was neat to see one.
Great pix Gunnar! Hopefully the groundhog won't scare them off when he comes looking for his shadow.
George
George,
That groundhog better bring a shovel with him. There is two or three feet of snow between his hole and the sunshine if he's around here. And it doesn't melt until Spring.
Question -- This summer you described the hardy homeowners removing all the storm damaged and dead wood from the peninsula. The Forest Service and timber industry do similar projects out here, just on a grander scale. It has the effect of moving woodpecker populations out of the treated areas. Consequently, woodpecker habitat is a scarce and moving commodity in the forest. Did you guys leave enough snags and ugly storm throws to hold and support your pair?
No. We do have some leftover snags, but not the big soft dead trunks they prefer. I read that a pair defends a territory of 1000 to 4000 acres, so they aren't going to park in my yard. 4000 acres drops a pretty big net. I imagine they pretty much live on the west side of the lake and we're just on the winter suet perimeter of their territory.
There must be some dead wood here. We have six species of woodpeckers at the suet.
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