Northwest Park

After work on Sunday, we went back to Windsor's Northwest Park, to try for the Red-headed Woodpecker again. It's a young male, seen regularly in a pretty restricted patch of woods. The afternoon was sunny and bright, but very cold, and as we walked into the park it was clear that there had been a big winter festival the day before. There were still signs up for various activities at the Cabin Fever Festival, dog-sledding this way, ice carving that way.

Howling wolf carved in crystal-clear ice


Detail of the head. It's okay to leave your Ice-Wolf outside if it's only 15 degrees F.


Jorge looking for woodpeckers in the treetops


Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, young male

According to Cornell University's All About Birds, this woodpecker is one of only four known to cache food. It is the only one known to then cover the food, such as insects and seeds, with bits of bark. Grasshoppers are regularly cached alive!, but wedged so tightly that they cannot escape.

Today's birders: Jorge and Sue
Today's birds:
Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus
Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus
American Robin, Turdus migratorius
Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus
Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
House Sparrow, Passer domesticus