White-headed Woodpecker ~ Picoides albolarvatus
This is the 6th species of woodpecker I have seen so far, and the 5th I've got a picture of. I found this couple at the end of the North Grove Trail. I had spent the morning in search of the Pileated Woodpecker I had just caught a glimpse of the afternoon before. I did not get a chance at a photo of it. I sure hope I get one some day.
On my trek, I had never expected to see this White-headed as at the visitor's center it was listed as rare. But see them, I did!
I saw the female first...
then the male...
I had heard this couple - at least I think they were the same - a few hundred yards away and caught a glimpse of them about the middle of the North Grove of Calaveras Big Trees State Park. I think the female was squawking at the male telling him to go get more food :D
They gave me a nice show and after taking several pictures, they stuck around looking for more food. I actually left the scene first.
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14 comments:
And you should have mentioned that they are lifers for you! Right? Nice capture, Red.
Thanks for sharing this! How wonderful you got to see a rare bird!!
Congratulations on seeing your 6th species of woodpecker! These are wonderful pictures. What a great forest they live in.
Nice sighting! I'm a little surprised that they're listed as rare in the CBT visitor's center, though - I see them on many trips to the area. In fact two years ago a pair of them nested in a tree a hundred feet fro our cabin! It's always fun to watch woodpecker antics for a while.
What an excellent find! I have only seen them a few times in my life too. They actually remind me of the Borg on Star Trek. :)
Never even heard of them. Probably skim over them in the reference books because not in my area. Great addition to your lifer list, and great photos.
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Your timing must have been just right. This is a new bird for me, so probably not in my area, either.
Good luck with the pileated. Them I see/hear rather frequently.
Hi there! I like your page, so easy on the eyes!
It's really a great thing you captured the moments of these two birds!
This is so National geographic, haha!
Wow...great find and capture. I bet they gave you a "music to your ears." You have incredible bird photos on your blog! You of course have heard about all the woodpeckers causing havoc in the retirement community of Rossmoor??...Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog. Enjoy the rest of the week.
@Mom, yep, should have... LIFERS!
@Darla, thanks :) It was fun discovering something new.
@April, thanks for stopping by... definitely a great forest!
@Adam, exciting! Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it was elsewhere I saw them listed as rare.
@Bernie, lol, I had to look up the Borg to see what you were talking about. I'm a geek, but never really knew Star Trek - Star Wars though, I'm a total nut.
@Leedra, yep, probably. Not even close to your area. And thanks for your kind words.
@J.G., nope, not in your area either. Just the Sierras it seems.
@HalfCrazy, welcome! LOL and thank you.
@Linnea, thanks very much. And yes, indeed, I have heard of the uproar at Rossmoor and the Acorn Woodpeckers. Signed a couple petitions on it and everything.
What a cool woodpecker! Another bird to look for on my next trip to California!
Definitely. And if your brother takes you up to the Sierras (as he's much closer than I am) then you'll probably add even more to your list. Kinglets and Mountain Chickadees and Varied Thrushes, and who knows what else?
Wow, I've never even heard of them and they are just beautiful. I have your blog on my Bloglines reader and it just now came across the roll. It's May 2 and the post says April 6. I wonder what took Bloglines so long to post it? Great photos!
Thanks Linda! Hey, better late than never :) Especially for a bird localized to just the US Pacific states.
That's interesting on Bloglines... I've had a few posts since this one too. All I can think is if you were to try to unsubscribe and re-subscribe it might work.
Google Reader and my RSS to Twitter feeds work within an hour. I can't imagine a month! WOW
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