Seems that life keeps getting in the way of my birding… I did manage to get outside for a quick hour walk at a wildlife preserve yesterday. I was looking specifically for the endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. This bird used to be fairly common throughout the southeastern United States, but it is rare. The problem is that they only live in mature pine woodlands, where the trees need to be 80 – 100 years old or even more! Unfortunately too many woodlands have been cut down over the years, leaving very few mature trees left for these birds.

I do know that they live in the preserve that I went to yesterday and at least half of the times that I go there I do manage to spot them, so I went searching for them again… I walked a bit further than I really had time for, but it paid off, I heard a few of them up ahead of me in the trees. They have a squeaky toy song or call that they will do when communicating back and forth. I stopped for a few minutes and watched as they pecked at the bark of the pine trunks looking for insects to eat.

So, now I have added to my list, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, European Starling and the Pied-billed Grebe.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

European Starling

Pied-billed Grebe