Dee and I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning at W G Jones Forest, 40 minutes northeast of where we live. It has been several years since we last visited the site, which is one of the best places to see the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker and usually also has a good variety of other birds.
We had a very pleasant walk in the forest and saw a number of common birds: Black and Turkey Vultures, American Crows, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Eastern Bluebirds and Red-headed Woodpecker. However, we didn't spot a Red-cockaded Woodpecker, although two birders we met had seen a couple earlier in the morning. In the end, the only less-than-common birds we saw were a Prothonotary Warbler and a female Orchard Oriole, both of which were impossible to photograph.
It wasn't a total waste of time taking along my camera, though, because I managed to get a reasonable photo of a Palamedes Swallowtail butterfly.
4 comments:
Beautiful picture of one of my favorite butterflies.
Hi, Birdwoman. The pattern on the underneath of the wings is amazing, isn't it.
Beautiful shot, Jeff! Sorry to hear you missed the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, though. I was lucky enough to see them a few weekends ago at Jones, while they were still busily feeding a nest full of babies. Got a couple of decent shots of the adult Red-cockadeds plus a few Red-headed Woodpeckers here.
I really liked your photos of both woodpeckers, Kyle. I think one reason the forest was so quiet when I visited was the heat. I would have done better to have gone earlier in the month, before it turned really hot.
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