Pileated Woodpecker and Cedar Waxwings

After being away for a few days, we returned home today to a few surprises in our yard. Cedar Waxwings were everywhere, including a lone Bohemian Waxwing. Juvenile and Adult Cedars were eating blueberries that we left on our high bush plants, swallowing the berries whole and getting into fights with each other and the Gray Catbirds who liked them also.

While I was in the yard trying to photograph the Cedar Waxwings, a Merlin flew by within two feet of where I stood and chased down a Song Sparrow. Narrowly missing the sparrow, the Merlin disappeared into the trees near the Winnegance Bridge.

Quite a few Warblers and Blue Jays were around, but the Warblers were to panicky to get good id’s. Tree Sparrows were very numerous along with a Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

During low tide, the river held 38 Canada Geese, one Green-Winged Teal and a lone Greater Yellowlegs.

On our way home today from our trip, we pulled off the side of the road to look at a map. As we were preparing to pull back out onto the road, a movement caught my eye. A Pileated Woodpecker was working a rotting tree stump no more than 15 feet away.

I must have looked suspect to passer-bys as I had half my body protruding out of the moon roof in our SUV taking pictures and video of this large woodpecker. At one point, a Bald Eagle flew overhead and the woodpecker slid around to the other side of the stump until all was clear. We would have never known that this fella was there if I had not seen the movement out of the corner of my eye.

Enjoy the photos and video below. *Tip* For full view of the pictures that are “tall and narrow”, press F11 on your keyboard to make your browser window as large as possible. If you do not do this, the picture will resize within your browser and you may not get the full size.

 

 

The following steaming high definition video portrays a Pileated Woodpecker searching for food in a rotted tree stump. A broadband connection is recommended to view the video.

Dimension: 518×291 | Video bit rate: 1000Kbps | File Size: 12.6mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Streaming Video of Pileated Woodpecker | ©2008 birdingmaine.com

 

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Happy birding!

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Psycho Birder and a busy yard bird morning

A bird watching woman is attacked by an uncontrolled dog. She voices her concern to the dogs owner about the leash law…. she is called a psycho birder.

A local news paper runs a story about wind turbines being considered for an area in Western Maine, which is located near an Avian Rehabilitation Clinic. The owner of this establishment was interviewed by the paper. In the comments section at the end of the story, a war of words break out. Birders are being called tree huggers, whining birders, nut jobs, and a few swear words that I will not repeat. In reference to a Mourning Dove that the article reported had been recently released, one fella commented that the Dove makes a great dish, tasting like chicken. Others said that if birds are stupid enough to run into the turbine blades, they should be killed. Misinformation was running rampant.

Let me ask you, what does this war of words solve? Do some people really think that cursing and name calling help solve the problems we have today? If I call my congressman and call him names, and use every derogatory remark known to man because gasoline prices are high, will I be able to step back and watch the price go down? No, it won’t happen! I look like an idiot and the price continues to rise.

It is beyond me why people can’t have a civilized debate about an issue without going off the deep end. There are always two sides to an issue. The environment, politics, global warming, war or any other issue that we have deep feelings about. Nothing is solved when tempers flare, it only makes matters worse. We have to keep calm heads even if our hearts are hot.

Incidents like this are happening nationwide, and not only to birders. I worry over environmental issues, the war, gas prices, how much it will cost to heat my home this winter, and many other things. But my biggest worry is how some people are acting these days. I worry about our nation as a whole and how much longer this can last before we have gone beyond the point of no return.

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On a lighter note, it was a great morning to watch yard birds from the confines of our home on this chilly, rainy Saturday. Between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., Sharon and I recorded 33 species!

We put out meal worms in very small dishes and the birds cleaned them all up. Chickadees took 3 to 4 at a time, Nuthatches and Titmice would fly off with single worms. More than likely, there were some happy baby birds this morning with this high protein diet.

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are making trips to our suet feeders and leaving with beaks full to feed the young ones. Tree Swallows are entering nest boxes with bugs. It won’t be long until fledglings will be visiting the feeders themselves.

We added new yard birds to our tally today, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and Brown Thrasher.

The 33 species recorded:

• Gray Catbird (pair)
• Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (pair)
• Common Yellowthroat
• Tufted Titmouse (pairs)
• White-Breasted Nuthatch
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• Northern Cardinal (pair)
• Downy Woodpecker (pair)
• Hairy Woodpecker (pair)
• Brown Thrasher
• Indigo Bunting
• Blackcapped Chickadee (pairs)
• American Robin
• Song Sparrow
• Tree Sparrow
• Savannah Sparrow
• American Goldfinch (pairs)
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Red-Winged Blackbird (pair)
• Yellow-Rumped Warbler
• Black and White Warbler
• Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
• Mourning Dove
• Great-Crested Flycatcher
• Eastern Phoebe
• Canada Geese
• Great Blue Heron
• Snowy Egret
• Osprey
• Mallards
• Black Ducks
• Greater Yellowlegs

Happy birding!

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Another Woodpecker Video

UPDATE 6/8/08: Having too much trouble embedding video into the post. Please click the link to play the WMV format movie in your default player.

Working this video through my video editing program, I have rendered a larger sized video with a smaller file size as requested. The video is embedded into this post. Click the play button and enjoy. The video was taken on a cloudy day, but sunny days are ahead!

If anyone has a problem playing or seeing this video, please let me know.

  Male Hairy Woodpecker (wmv format 6mb)

 

Happy birding!

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