Even as I search for the last of the elusive warblers wending their way north, our local residents are providing me with much entertainment in the yard. Last evening I glanced out to see two Hairy Woodpeckers at the sunflower feeder, not particularly unusual in and of itself. However, the male was cracking open a seed and then sliding around to the other side to feed the other bird. It returned to the port and repeated the operation. Sure enough, it was not a female Hairy but a still somewhat downy baby Hairy Woodpecker. Baby would climb the mesh but still didn't have the tail for balance thing quite figured out and would slide slowly back to the tray.
Although most of the Breeding Bird Atlas blocks probably don't have feeders to watch, much of this same behavior can be observed in the wild. With this incident plus the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher nest building and Northern Cardinal sitting on eggs at Easter Lake, it's a good wake-up call to start working on BBA blocks already. For those who haven't yet seen it, the latest newsletter is now published to the BBA site and illustrates how our work starts painting a picture of what is happening with Iowa's birds. Be sure to take a look - it's a great read! http://bba.iowabirds.org/documents/BBA_SpringSummer_2011.pdf Ann Johnson Norwalk, IA 50211 --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
