That’s great news, Michelle! The odds are in your favor, I believe. I think
this will be the year you pin it down. I love RHWP! This will be a fantastic
breeding record for the county. Thanks for sharing all that info.
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 8, 2021, at 10:10 AM, Michelle <mappalachian@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:==========================================================Mailing List For
Yesterday, I again saw two Red-headed Woodpeckers on Guesses Fork. I combed
through my notes and for those interested, here's a recap:
September 20, 2016: adult, first sighting on Guesses Fork
September 23, 2018: adult, same tree as 2016 bird
September 30, 2018: juvenile bird, same tree as previous two sightings of
adults
October 15, 2020: adult in same area of tree
February 2, 2021: adult in same area
February 8, 2021: two adults, same area, engaging in typical mating behavior
March 8, 2021: two adults in same area
All these sightings have occurred in the same general area. The last three
sightings have been in the exact same area of woods, which was burned about
three years ago and part of which has hosted a few goats for a couple years.
The result of these disturbances is a patch of woods fairly clear of
underbrush, with dead and dying trees. The trees are mainly oak, beech,
maple, and other deciduous trees. All these features are the preferred
habitat of RHWs, according to Cornell.
The Cornell Lab describes the RHW's mating behavior as "hide and seek," and
the behavior I observed on 2/8/21 fits that description. One of the birds
would fly about 50 yards away, the other would wait a few seconds and then
fly after it, and when it "found" the first bird, they would fly in sync,
squawking, and then the whole game would start over again. I believe the two
are a mated pair.
I don't want to get ahead of myself, but these birds have been there at least
since February 8, so is it possible they have taken up residence on GF? Could
they be planning to nest there? I'm going to monitor them as closely as
possible for the next few weeks and search intently for more clues that
they're nesting.
Happy, happy birding,
Michelle
P.S.-I manged to get a not-very-good photo, yesterday.
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