Dear All,
Yesterday during the Tillamook Christmas Bird Count I discovered an apparent
RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER southeast of Tillamook at the intersection of Chance Rd.
and Long Prairie Rd. The bird was seen in the tree (probably an apple tree)
about 40 feet east and about 10 feet north of the intersection of Chance Rd.
and Long Prairie Rd. My wife and I had stopped here to photograph a
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK that we had seen perched on a power line just north of this
intersection. As I was getting my camera out I was distracted by the call of a
sapsucker from the tree directly to my north. It was lightly raining and the
weather wasn’t that good for photos. I came back today at 1:30 pm and was able
to photograph the bird in somewhat better lighting. See 5 photos in my eBird
report at https://ebird.org/checklist/S99157903. There is a possibility that ;
there is some Red-breasted Sapsucker DNA in this bird, but overall it looks
good to me for a fairly pure RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER. There are a lot of sapsucker
holes in this tree and I suspect it will be hanging around this tree for the
rest of the winter.
Sincerely,
Tim Janzen
Portland
