The Yellow Bellied Sapsucker is a bird that I have read about but not bumped in to before. They are not scarce but of course you have to be in the right place at the right time as they say. They seemed to have a problem comming up with good names for woodpeckers because for the life of me I can’t see a yellow belly!
There is always a story when I see something for the first time and this one was no excepotion. I could hear this light drumming in front of me but I suspecteded that it was comming from trees about 30 yards ahead. I started to make my way towards them and then the noise was comming from behind me. In actual fact the bird was hammering in to the palm tree right in front of me but on the blind side. I spotted it quickly and the usual excitement of a lifetime first washed over me. I don’t think it is the most attractive species of woodpecker but never the less it certainly was confiding. It allowed me to stand and watch it for about an hour. At times I was only 3 feet away from it. (Obsessive I know, but thats me)! I took laods of shots and this one shows him, because yes it is a male, feeding on sap I suppose!
All around the tree there was small bore holes which I have seen lots of times and now I know which species is responsible.
Just a little earlier I had watched an Osprey fishing but he didn’t catch anything. What a chance though to observe fishng behaviour. A Great Egret – Casmerodius albus flew in and settled amongst the picnic tables and Turkey Vultures were drifting back and forth in the strong winds.