Saturday, May 11, 2013

A Morning in Jefferson County

May 2, 2013

Richard Stevens:

The Miller brothers (Bob & Jan) and I headed southwest to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson County).  They were not able to find an American Three-toed Woodpecker yesterday during the snowstorm.

Skies were clear today; temperatures were in the 50s.  It took less than 20 minutes to locate a Three-toed Woodpecker up the hill south of Pine Lake.  The distinctive drumming carried quite well in the windless morning.  Their drumming sounds like the flicking of a door stop spring in that it tails off after a loud start!

No Northern Pygmy-Owls were found while we checked Buck Gulch Trail to Strawberry Jack Trail and the Narrow Gauge Trail west to the closed boundary sign.

Our next target bird was a Williamson's Sapsucker.  A male came in rather quickly after I briefly (15 seconds) played a Williamson's Sapsucker recording.

A flock of six Red Crossbills (4 males & 2 females) added a bonus to our morning.  We also found all three species of common Nuthatches, Pine Siskins, Mountain Chickadees and even two Black-capped Chickadees.

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