This Northern Flicker is drilling out a hole for his home in one of the trees in our backyard. We’ve heard a lot of drumming recently on one of the trees that came down a while back and were delighted to see a Northern Flicker working away. He’s got a pretty big hole there.
It would be so cool to see some little Northern Flickers in that tree!
This female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak has been hanging out at our home for a few days now. We had never seen a female before so we didn’t know what kind of bird it was at first. Using our trusty Sibley’s, we realized that it is a female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. The males are quite colorful being black and white with a very rose-colored breast. The females are a lot more drab in color.
And I always wondered why they are called Grosbeaks. Their beak is very different and very distinctive. It is French for “gros” meaning thick and “bek” meaning beak. And, as you can see, they have a very thick beak which they use for opening the seeds.
Pretty cool, huh? Have you ever seen a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak? We named her “Rosie!” I wonder if she has a male nearby…
We always know when the Red-Bellied Woodpecker is hungry at the Wellfleet Wildlife Sanctuary because you can her squawking from far away! You can walk down the Silver Spring trail and hopefully see her poking her head out of the hole in the tree, which is her home about 20 feet up.
Have you ever seen a Woodpecker’s hole in a tree? Pretty cool, don’t you think?
The Bufflehead is one of the most unique-looking ducks that I’ve seen. I love the big white spot on the back of their heads. The female Bufflehead has a small spot on the side of her head.
I saw these Buffleheads at Nauset Marsh. They didn’t come close enough to get a great photograph, but you can see what they look like.
Have you ever seen a Bufflehead? They are here from October to May and then they migrate up to northern Canada!
