Hello all,
Seven people enjoyed an Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV)
sponsored walk at Sky Meadows State Park (Fauquier County) this
morning.
A cloudy morning gave way to sunshine and walking in the grove of
trees that is home to so many Red-headed Woodpeckers kept us out of
the wind for most of the walk.
We did notice something interesting and wonder if this is usual
behavior. We watched the Red-headed Woodpeckers actively defending
territory by running off any other specie of woodpecker who happened
to show up, i.e. Downy, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as well as a Tufted
Titmouse. But, they did not bother the European Starlings who compete
with them for nesting cavities.
The list follows:
Great Blue Heron--a fly over
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Carolina Chickadee (H)
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren (H)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Meadowlark--in the fields near the visitor center
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Jay and Carol Hadlock
for our leader Norm Smith
