Another Nest/Another Juvenile
18 July - A lot of surprises today - I was observing the nest activity. No changes except the parents are not going as far in to feed (young are growing). Still no sight of the young at the entrance of the hole. While observing I heard one of the parents vocalizing in the Hummock area behind me, it was joined by a Carolina Chickadee, a Fish Crow and a Brown-headed Nuthatch. I decided to go investigate; then the place really erupted, about 6 more crows showed up. It’s then I saw a very large bird fly to a branch - a Great-horned Owl!
Observation - 4hrs
Clear, 80F WNW winds 14mph
The birds finally stopped harassing it and it flew off. It’s only a guess, but I think this is the male adult from the nest I’ve monitored over the last couple of years.
I continued watching the Red-head parents. They are very good at catching bugs while in flight. One parent was catching bugs, then taking them to a food prep station (a particular branch) to prepare it for the young. They remove the wings and other hard parts of the bug.
Here a parent arrives with food, feeds, then goes in and removes a fecal sag. It was a windy day, you see it struggles a little flying out.
I decided to go look for the Red-Headed juveniles in an adjacent territory. To my surprise I saw Three this time, and doing well.
One more surprise for the day - As I was leaving I decided to look for the other Red-headed Woodpecker I had seen on the entrance road. It was there. I watched it for a bit and saw it fly a distance away to an active nest (observed it go to the cavity twice). It is very far so it’s hard to get pictures.
That’s excellent to know - seems it’s a good year for Red-heads at CBEC.
