FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Re: RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, EMPIDONAX SP. in Powhatan County

["James Blowers" <jimvb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Do woodpeckers, and birds in general, mate and nest at this time of the
year?

 

Jim Blowers

 

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From: va-richmond-general-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:va-richmond-general-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
WEalding@xxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, 2007 October 2 11:14
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [va-richmond-general] RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, EMPIDONAX SP. in
Powhatan County

 

Some interesting sightings in my local neighborhood patch this morning.

 

First, we have an immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER excavating a significant
hole in the limb of a sweet gum.  We first noticed it yesterday and on
closer examination this morning, it appears to be a nest hole.  It's on the
underside of a limb that projects up about 60 degrees from the horizontal.
It's an elongated hole, much bigger than I would expect for a granary hole.
It seems pretty unusual for such a young bird to be working on a nest hole
already.

 

This morning I found 2 Empidonax sp. flycatching from the top of a dead tree
so, primarily seen from below.  They had light colored underparts, wing
bars, orange lower mandibles, and were making a soft "peace" call consistent
with Acadian - that's the way I have submitted them to eBird, where it
immediately got flagged.  The Gold Book gives their typical last date as
September 20 for the Piedmont but, as late as migration seems this year,
maybe not so unusual.

 

Wendy Ealding

Powhatan County

 

 





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