Red-headed Woodpeckers
Les Eastman (les_eastman@netfox.net)
Fri, 27 Nov 1998 12:59:51 -0500
I made a run from Havre de Grace to Conowingo this morning and things
were down right dull until, on the way home from Conowingo, I stopped to
look for the Red-headed Woodpecker on Stafford Road. At the Holloway
Farm ( Block B-3, pp 76-7 of the DeLorme Atlas ) I found 3 Red-headed
Woodpeckers. This is the most birds I have seen at this spot. There was
the usual adult that stays around the dead tree in the pasture. In
addition, I found another adult in the woods to the right of the dead
tree. Earlier this fall there had been an immature bird that stayed
around a dead tree next to the driveway. I hadn't seen this bird in 3
-4 weeks, but when I looked for this bird, I found one that appeared to
have a red head. I got out my scope for closer look and found that the
bird had both brown and red on its head. So either this is the immature
that was here earlier and is now molting into adult plumage or another
bird not seen before. There was an immature Red-headed Woodpecker at
Aberdeen Proving Ground last year that kept its brown head all winter,
so I was very surprised to see this bird molting already. Does anyone
know if this is normal? Both adults were actively chasing Flickers and
Blue Jays from the vicinity of their trees.
Les
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Les Eastman
les_eastman@netfox.net
Havre de Grace, MD
Visit the Harford Bird Club Web Page at http://birdclub.harfordhasit.com