March 22, 2020 - Winter Walk

We are back from Florida and spending some time at our northern Minnesota home. Last Wednesday it snowed, so on Thursday morning I took a walk along our driveway to see what I could photograph. The snow was wet and heavy, so it stuck to the tree branches and weighed them down.

SnowybranchesDunningLakeItascaCounty20200319

I discovered a dead tree that had likely been worked over by a Pileated Woodpecker looking for insects to eat. Those long, deep holes are typically made by a Pileated Woodpecker.

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During winter, we have a limited number of bird species that stay here. Black-capped Chickadees are always a welcome sight because they are so cheerful and perky. One of our well-known Minnesota bird authors even suggested that we should change our state bird from the Common Loon to the Chickadee because the Loon is only a “fair weather” visitor while the Chickadee sticks with us all year round. That’s an interesting thought but it didn’t happen.

ChickadeeBlackcappedDunningLakeItascaCounty20200319

Blue Jays are another year-round resident. We sometimes have as many as eight of them at our feeders. They are noisy but they provide us with a splash of color in the winter.

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This Red-breasted Nuthatch was clinging to the side of a tree. Their strong feet allow them to walk right down a tree looking for insects hidden in the cracks of the bark.

NuthatchRedbreastedmaleDunningLakeItascaCounty20200319

We have both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers coming to our feeders and sometimes it can be hard to tell them apart. A Downy is much smaller than a Hairy but if you see one by itself, size can be hard to judge. This is a Downy and here’s a good way to be sure. The tail on this bird looks kind of ragged but notice the black spots on the underside of the tail. Downys have these black spots but Hairys do not. It can be difficult to get a good look at the tail but if you see the spots, you are looking at a Downy.

WoodpeckerDownyDunningLakeItascaCounty20200319

I was excited to find this recently excavated nest cavity in a living birch tree. The hole is small, 2 inches high, 1¼ inches wide, and 5 inches deep, so it was likely made by a small bird. I set up my trail camera to focus on this hole so I can find out which bird is making this its home.

NestcavityDunningLakeItascaCounty20200319