[birding] E.E. Wilson sapsucker, kite, & Townsend's Warbler

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

Today around noon the YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER was in the trees just
south of E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area headquarters, initially calling and
feeding in a tree on the south side of the road (right next to Camp
Adair Road, a tree he's used before), and then feeding high in his
favorite tree (the walnut on the north side of Camp Adair Rd.). He seems
to head for this tree when the sun comes out. The RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
was perched back in the trees, within 25 yards of where I first heard
the sapsucker.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker's calls today sounded a little bit harder
than the sapsucker that I heard calling yesterday in the woods on the
south side of the skeet range, so I think that one was a different bird
(presumably a Red-breasted Sapsucker).

A PILEATED WOODPECKER was calling and flew between some tall cottonwoods
about 200 yards south of there. Throw in NORTHERN FLICKERS and DOWNY
WOODPECKERS, and a HAIRY WOODPECKER that stopped briefly in the walnut
tree last week, that's pretty good woodpecker diversity for these parts.
One of the several dozen flickers that I saw on my walk today (north of
HQ) showed very yellow primary shafts, but I didn't get a look at the
head markings to see if it was an intergrade Red x Yellow-shafted
Flicker.

On the NW side of the Canal Pond (last fall's Indigo Bunting locale) I
came across a female TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, a species that's surprisingly
rare in the main unit of this wildlife area (only 2 or 3 records that
I'm aware of, though they migrate by the dozens along Tampico Ridge just
west of here.

The sparrow patch in the north end of the wildlife area had a NORTHERN
SHRIKE (probably a different bird from the one hanging around the south
end), and a WHITE-TAILED KITE.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis