Today is actually July 6, but I wanted to write about a special moment that I got to experience on July 4, Independence Day.
But first, what is happening in Yellowstone today. Some lucky folks got to see two wolves cross the road in front of them while driving through Little America. They saw an colllarless black on one side of the road and then someone yelled that there was another on the north side, a gray with a collar. Both wolves headed for the southern hills and people lost track of where they went. I am assuming, since no other black is without a collar, that the two were 911 and Black Female. Those two wolves sure do get around, after having killed a moose calf on Antelope Creek the previous morning while I was just up the road with the black bears. Several folks told me that they saw bits and pieces of activity and then someone told me this morning that one of the twin moose calves was no longer with us.
Still nothing on the Blacktail carcass. That thing worries me because it looks to be a healthy bull, not one that died of old age.
The black bear sow was in the Elk Creek area this afternoon and the jam was otherwordly.
Speaking of jams, was in a short bison jam on the way to Slough Creek to post this and so decided to play tourist with the iPad and stop and film it. Felt sort of foolish but wanted to have the experience.
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Back to July 4. I decided to spend some time photographing the Williamson’s Sapsucker nest in the early morning light. (photos at another time) There was a noisy rascal down the way, making a racket and so I used the binoculars and discovered another type of woodpecker nest with one that looked ready to fledge. This woodpecker is either a Downy or a Hairy – I am guessing Hairy by the size but please feel free to correct me.
This one’s parent was coming in to feed quite often and so I went down to watch and soon discovered that some bluebirds were building a nest nearby – only I thought they were feeding youngsters until looking at the photos. Sure hope I did not push them off of that nest and sure wish that I had realized that they were bringing in sticks and not bugs. (photos later).
But, most of my attention was on the woodpeckers. The youngster was hanging further and further out of the nest and was really quite vocal. I was focused on getting a certain sequence of feeding, having missed it once, and got close to what I want, in video and still.
The adult had just fed and I turned away from the nest and suddenly there was a racket over my head and something landed on a branch behind me. There was no longer a woodpecker in the nest. The kid had made a perfect flight to a small branch immediately began pecking.
I can not tell you how thrilling it was to be there at the moment the bird flew the coop. And then to watch mom return to the nest and find that junior no longer lived there. The two called to each other and I imagined mom saying, “I’m proud of you son.” Mom flew over to junior, just briefly and then to a tree. Junior followed with another perfect flight.
One has to wonder how they know how to fly, land and peck for the first time.
The fledgling after its first flight and landing.
I felt privileged by getting this private view of nature.
I can tell by the size, with the downy being the smaller of the two. The books also say the downy has black spots on the outer tail (seen when it flies), and a bill about half the size of the hairy’s. By those marks, I would say these are hairy woodpeckers. The bill of the adult hairy is as long as the distance from the back of the head to the base of the bill, while the downy’s bill is about half that length. A newly fledged bird has a smaller bill, so it helps to have the adult in the vicinity…nice job!
Thanks Dianna, I was hoping you would help.
Very nice story and photos Deby. The I Pad video was also nice. The color of the deep blue sky and clouds with the bison is remarkable. I had a woodpecker in my back yard in May and I believe he has moved on, just passing through.
It is such a neat process to watch. Nature is so fascinating!
What wonderful photos and story, Deby. You get to experience some wonderful things in Yellowstone, and I can’t help but be just a tad jealous.
Not really. Hopefully we will see some wonderful things next year.
We have hairy and downy woodpeckers here in Mississippi that visit our suet feeders multiple times a day. We have a red-headed woodpecker family in a dead tree next door, and we are looking forward to seeing their young ones soon. Stay safe and well.