Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Bird of the Day: Nuttall's Woodpecker in the Pasture II

I was walking around the pasture this morning and the Western Bluebirds were out, hanging around on the fence that surrounds the pasture near my house. One of them didn't fit the color pattern and I realized it was a Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii) searching the fenceposts for goodies. As I mentioned in the previous post on woodpeckers, Nuttall's Woodpeckers are pretty much an Alta California endemic, with a bit of their range slipping south of the border into Baja California. They hang out almost exclusively in oak woodlands but don't eat acorns. They are after insects and other arthropods and occasionally some fruit.
This might be the same individual I photographed at the beginning of the month, but I was unhappy with those shots.  Some of these are still just a bit fuzzy, but I liked catching these poses of the bird exploring and checking out the stuff on the fence.
I had sat down on the curb across the street to take the pictures, and he only acknowledged me once, staring from around the post.
He went along exploring and eventually flew up into the old Walnut tree and out of sight. My walk continued. It's been a good couple of days for birdwatching!

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