Most mornings for the past few weeks I’ve come upon a Downy Woodpecker in the burnt patch along the trail where last summer a powerline fire blackened the landscape over an area of several acres. First that faint tapping I heard belonged to a female of the species—but more recently it’s been a male.
Last week, two days passed without my seeing or hearing the bird, which made me a little nervous; but the past couple days, there its been, drilling for grubs or larvae in the trunks of the scorched scrub oaks.
Nearly always I hear it first, then divine its location and snap a few photos. This morning I was lucky enough to watch it yank a fat yellow morsel from the trunk it was working on.
I’ve truly appreciated this daily meetup with the little downy. Especially what with the pandemic and all.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:29 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee**
2. Black-billed Magpie
3. House Finch**
4. Dark-eyed Junco**
5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
6. Spotted Towhee
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
9. Rock Pigeon
Elsewhere
10. Song Sparrow
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: black-billd magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, house finch, lesser goldfinch, rock pigeon, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
