VA-Birders,
I was able to watch the activities at the Hairy Woodpecker nest
cavity after Renee left. Unfortunately, it appears that the Starlings
prevailed. I witnessed and filmed a short video of an aerial skirmish
and the apparent takeover of the hole. The Starling eventually got
into the cavity and one of the Hairys then repeatedly jabbed at the
opening. At one time it appeared that both a Hairy and a Starling
were inside. What was not clear is whether there were eggs or
nestlings inside as well.
I have four still photos of the event in my Monticello photo gallery.
The first shows an adult Hairy in the cavity at 9:30. Then, a
digiscope at 9:59 of what appears to be an injured Hairy, adult or
nesting? The next, taken less than a minute later, shows the adult
female Hairy near the cavity. The last is of the adult Starling who
first appeared in the cavity about 7 minutes after that. These are
the first four photos at:
http://www.pbase.com/paulasullivan/monticello
Paula Sullivan
Alexandria
On Apr 25, 2007, at 10:36 AM, Renee Grebe wrote:
I stopped by Monticello Park this morning on my way to work (off of
Beverly Dr., Alexandria). ........
My personal highlight of the day was the discovery of an occupied
HAIRY WOODPECKER nest cavity (up on the western hill where there is a
little path through the ivy). One Hairy held down the fort (and could
be seen periodically) and and its mate vehemently defended the fort
against rather gregarious (as always) STARLINGs. I watched as a
Starling and Hairy had a several-minute stare-down. If you stayed
long enough, you were treated with the two birds tangling in the air
and plummeting down tens of feet in the air before landing on the
tree for another stare-down.
-Renee Grebe
Alexandria, VA
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