Acorn Woodpeckers on the Tuolumne River

It's been a while since Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) have graced these pages. I see them often, flying from tree to tree along the my walks on the Tuolumne River, but only occasionally do they perch low enough for some half-decent pictures.

We took a short drive upriver today to Turlock Lake State Recreational Area, a complex that includes the fairly barren lake itself, and a nice campground in a separate property on the Tuolumne River about 10 miles downstream of La Grange.

I was pleased to see the campground full, as our state parks are often an under-utilized resource in our state. The river was low, but that made it easier for kids to play in the water (and of course not one of them had a life jacket; shame on their parents). I must have been a sight among all the swimsuits, an old guy with a camera looking nowhere but up.

The Acorn Woodpeckers are creatures of southwest oak woodlands. They live, work, and breed cooperatively, knocking thousands of holes into old snags (granary trees), and filling the holes with acorns for food storage. Sometimes they will drill into eaves for the same purpose, causing a lot of damage. Some members of the group will stand guard over the granary trees, keeping out the troublemakers who would steal their food. They have a very distinctive waka-waka cry.

The Acorn Woodpeckers are fascinating birds that are holding their own against human encroachment. Where granary trees are removed, they simply start using buildings for storage. Oak woodlands themselves have been declining in California, as many of the oaks are not regenerating well. That could be a future problem for these interesting acorn hoarders.

Downy Woodpecker at Turlock Lake Campground

Okay, I was half-joking when I said in the last post that I would try to capture photos of a Downy Woodpecker for the next post, but that turned out to be what happened. We made a short excursion out to Turlock Lake in the afternoon to see what was out and about, and down in the campground area there was a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) in the tree above us.

The Downy Woodpecker is among the smallest of the Woodpecker family, and size is one of the ways one can distinguish it from the similar Hairy Woodpecker. The bill is shorter, too. It looks a bit like a Nuttall's Woodpecker, but the Downy has a white patch on the back, as today's did.

As is my usual pattern, I got a very fuzzy picture on the first attempt (two days ago), barely enough to identify it, and on the second try (today's attempt), I got sharper pictures, but not great ones (then again, do I ever?). Next time they will be marvelous!

The Downy Woodpecker is common and ranges widely across North America from Alaska to the Mexican border and the Eastern Seaboard. They are mainly missing in the deserts of the southwest. Which means I should have noticed them a long time ago!

Speaking of getting sharper, nicer pictures on the third sighting, check out the nice sharp sunlit photo of a Northern Flicker that was hanging out in the next tree over from the Downy Woodpecker. It was in interesting day, and a few more birds from this afternoon will make an appearance on the blog.