A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker pauses to have a look around while drilling wells in an elm in the Red Wolf Enclosure. A half-dozen or so fresh wells are visible to the woodpecker's right.

There are four species of sapsucker in North America, Yellow-bellied, Williamson’s, Red-naped, and Red-breasted Sapsuckers. Being woodpeckers they all make their living by drilling holes in wood. Sapsuckers specialize in drilling shallow wells, often in neat little rows, in living trees in order to suck the sap that eventually fills those wells. They also take insects which are attracted to the sweet tasting sap.

Although the summer range of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker stretches from the Maritime Provinces of Canada to Alaska, it’s the only sapsucker that can be seen in the east, and then only from October to April, give or take a few weeks on either side.

The bird in the photo is working an elm just inside the Red Wolf Enclosure and should visit the tree regularly to sip sap or drill more wells. While standing at the Main Overlook the tree is about thirty feet inside the fence and about 45 degrees to the right. If you happen to be at the wolf exhibit and you don’t see the bird but you hear a mewing sound, have another look, the woodpecker’s nearby.

A Northern Cardinal and three Carolina Chickadees stock up on sunflower seeds.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Northern Flickers, Winter Wrens, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets have all been seen here at the Museum. We’re still waiting to see the first White-throated Sparrow of the season.

The cool weather brought in by a cold front yesterday had the local birds feeding heavily at the Bird Feeders in Catch the Wind.

Even though the air was much cooler than the previous several days, the sun was intense, turtles were out taking advantage of its warming rays.

A Yellow-bellied Slider enjoys the sun on a cool crisp October day.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Congratulations Nathan!

Who will receive the much coveted “Sapsucker” this year? Not to diminish Nathan’s accomplishment, but the Sapsucker’s arrival is the one that catches me by surprise each year. One day you’re out walking about on your favorite trail, or you look out your back window, and there’s a sapsucker sliding up and down and around on a tree trunk. They usually arrive in early October. Keep you eyes, and ears, open!!

* The RCKI Award is given to the person who sees the first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season. The official abbreviation, or four letter alpha code, used by the U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory for the bird having the common name of Ruby-crowned Kinglet is RCKI, hence the name RCKI Award.

See if you can find the bird, then identify it.

Don’t scroll down to the bottom of the page until you’ve had a look at the first image.

Can you find the bird?

Good job.

Now, what kind of bird?

Can you identify the bird?

Great, a woodpecker.

Now, what kind of woodpecker?

Drilling wells.

If you still don’t have it, here’s s a clue.

Have a good one,

Further proof of a definite warm-up was evidenced by a Groundhog seen browsing in the grass next to the Ornithopter in Catch the Wind. This mid-January date is nearly two weeks before Groundhog Day! Unfortunately, I don’t have an image of the early riser to show you (I took a picture, but accidently deleted it from my camera).

Eastern Painted Turtle taking advantage of the relative warmth of the mid January sunshine.

The same day, a Painted Turtle apparently thought it warm enough to crawl out onto a log to bask in the sun!

As if the appearance of the groundhog and turtle were not evidence enough of the warm-up, sap was pouring out of a maple tree in Catch the Wind. The holes, drilled by a woodpecker, were also attracting insects, and other birds to the sweet tasting sap.

Sap flows from Yellow-bellied Sapsucker "wells" (arrows) drilled into a maple in Catch the Wind.

Today, it’s supposed to be even warmer, so I’m signing off and heading outside!

Enjoy the day.

The first Pied-billed Grebe in the Wetlands since March 2008.

The grebe flipping around tadpole for a head-first swallow.

I hadn’t seen one of these little grebes in the Wetlands since March of 2008 when one, then two, showed up and stayed for about five weeks, leaving sometime during the first half of April. At the time, I had hoped that the pair would attempt to nest in the Wetlands.

Our new visitor to the Wetlands is unlike the previous grebe guests, which stayed clear of the boardwalk while people were present. This one apparently has no fear of people and swims right up to the boardwalk, diving, preening, and resting within feet of whoever may be standing there.

Preening is an important part of a bird's daily routine.

Pied-billed Grebes feed on fish, tadpoles, crayfish, and aquatic insects, diving and swimming underwater in pursuit of those items.

Happy grebe with a Wetlands shiner.

An unlucky crayfish in the bill of the grebe.

Grebes propel themselves underwater with their feet. Unlike ducks, which have webbed feet, grebes have lobes on their toes. They can put on quite a show while chasing fish about the water.

Grebe scooting along underwater in pursuit of fish (swimming towards viewer).

These little grebes (which are more closely related to loons than ducks) have the ability to both dive and “sink” beneath the water creating little, if any, splash in doing so.

Grebe in the process of "sinking." They sometimes use the sinking behavior to silently slip away, unseen, from potential predators

A grebe’s feet are positioned well back on its body. This rear placement of the feet is great for swimming but not so good for walking. Ducks too, have feet situated close to the rear of their bodies, although not quite as far back as in grebes.

The feet of grebes are situated well to the rear.

You’ve no doubt seen a duck waddling along on land. Well, imagine the duck’s waddle amplified several times; something between a duck and a penguin. You’re not likley to see a grebe on land except while nesting (which, technically, is not on land at all but usually on a floating matt of vegetation) or during a heavy storm when they are sometimes literally grounded by the weather. Grebes need to run some distance along the water to take flight. With the feet so far back on their bodies they can’t get up enough speed on land to get airborne. A grounded grebe is a very vulnerable grebe indeed.

A wise grebe keeps one eye on the sky.

While watching the grebe dive for fish just off the boardwalk leading down into the Wetlands, I noticed the bird glance skyward. I too looked up, just as an Osprey cruised by overhead. I doubt that an Osprey would attempt to take a grebe (stranger things have happened), but it’s a good idea for a bird like a grebe to keep an eye skyward; a passing eagle, or even the local Red-shouldered Hawk, would probably give it a go.

And then, there were two!

The second grebe arrived 10 days after the first.

The two grebes appear to be inseperable, diving and fishing together in the Wetlands and putting on a show for all who care to view it.

Elsewhere on the Outdoor Exhibit Area, birds have been moving through in fairly good numbers. Both Northern Flickers and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (10/2) arrived during the first half of October along with House Wren (10/1), Wood, Gray-cheeked, and Swainson’s Thrushes, many American Robins, Scarlet Tanagers, and even a Black-billed Cuckoo made a quick appearance, flying within feet of me before fading into the thick vegetation to the right of the Red Wolf Enclosure on 7 October. The thrushes, tanagers, and sapsuckers have been gobbling up the Flowering Dogwood berries which seem to be so abundant this year here at the Museum.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets have arrived (10/2), or at least have been seen in passing and warblers too, have been moving through, including a Nashville Warbler (10/7). Yellow-rumped Warblers are on the scene (10/2). Their arrival traditionally marks the beginning-of-the-end for warbler migration in the fall.

We should expect to see White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos very soon.