Back Acres: Downy Woodpecker vs Juniper
I was sitting on the patio this morning when I noticed a little bird pecking at a pile of cut Juniper trees.
The picture below is of the cut Juniper trees laying on the hill - but the bird had flown away.
In the picture below you can see the tapped holes in the juniper trees - from what I discovered was a female Downy Woodpecker. For more information: www.allaboutbirds.org - Downy Woodpecker
The Downy Woodpecker Returns
I grabbed my camera and was happy to capture the woodpecker's return. This time the downy landed on a standing juniper tree, next to the hammock. He tested both sides of the standing juniper tree and realized this tree was not rotten.
The woodpecker then hopped down to the juniper logs. In the picture below, on the left you can see the top of the Downy woodpecker's head. If this woodpecker was male then it would have red feathers on the top of the head - this woodpecker is female.
In the picture below you can see the Downy giving a last tap before flying away.
Downy Woodpecker Video
Below is the Downy Woodpecker vs Juniper video.
Holes and Bark Tore off Juniper Logs
In the pictures below you can see the bark torn off the juniper logs and the hops from the Downy Woodpecker tapping. She was looking for bugs under the bark and wood.
Below is an Older Video of a Woodpecker Tapping a Telephone Pole
A new camera with 25x optical zoom is on the way.
Have a great day!
wow lol = i would have thought they were BIG beetles or something... Good capture!
Thanks - I've seen holes like that in wood before and I had assumed it was some kind of bug as well :)
So did the woodpecker find any dinner? hope that is firewood if it has bugs not for building or furniture haha
Luckily the main logs the woodpecker was tapping are just the top of a retention wall I was working on last summer. I'll have to make sure my wood cabin keeps a fresh coat of paint :)
I would never have guessed those wholes were from a bird or guessed a wood pecker that is so cool to see
It first I just thought it was a just a chick-a-dee, but then the hammer head tapping started :)
Nice. I don’t know my woodpeckers, but we have them here in NC. I sometimes see them on the trees in my yard, but more often I hear them pecking away in the distance. Nice photos.
Wood peckers used to be more of a mystery to me, but after I saw my first tree out here with large obvious woodpecker holes, then I started seeing the holes everywhere. But this little guy with the small test pokes was a surprise to me.
Cant wait to see the pix on the new cam!!
I was deciding between 2 cannons. The bulkier one has 42x optical zoom. The one I decided on is only 25x optical zoom, but it fits in my pocket, so it's a camera I could easily always have with me. Mainly I wanted optical zoom and good night shots of the moon and critters :)
very excited for you - I still need to get mine functional ... hmmmm
I don't believe I've ever seen one in real life myself. Pretty cool to have one in your garden! Too bad the pictures aren't sharp (but I know the feeling with the lack of a good camera!) but I see you have a better one on the way.. You could make some pretty awesome pictures of the little pecker :)