Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/04/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It appears that there is inequality in tree cavity availability. On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 10:57 PM Douglas Herr via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote: > a tale of two species... > > the players: Nuttall's Woodpecker pair > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut06.html > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut08.html > > female Acorn Woodpecker > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor12.html > > the scene: a dead cottonwood tree, Sacramento County California > > The Nuttall's pair has been working for several days excavating a nest > cavity in a dead Cottonwood tree > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut09.html > > When I arrived on the morning of 19 April 2020 I saw the male Nuttall's > remove something from the cavity that looked like an egg, then resume work > on the cavity. Weird, I thought, let's keep watching. > > In the days since I first observed the Nuttall's pair working on the > cavity, a colony of Acorn Woodpeckers moved in nearby. A female Acorn > Woodpecker seemed unusually interested in the Nuttall's cavity > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor13.html > > at this point the male Nuttall's raised the alarm > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut10.html > > Apparently Acorn Woodpeckers don't share nest trees. I also observed the > female Acorn repeatedly use her face-chisel to try to stab the female > Nuttall's who was inside the cavity. > > I'm guessing the Acorn Woodpecker left an egg in the Nuttall's nest cavity > for the Nuttall's to hatch & raise, Mr. Nuttall's discovered the ruse and > removed the Acorn Woodpecker egg sending Ms. Acorn into a tizzy. > > Meanwhile in another part of the woods a male Acorn Woodpecker was making > another nest cavity > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor10.html > > it's always the guys who take out the trash > > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor09.html > > all: Sony a7rIII, 600mm f/3 GM, big tripod. Some with 1.4x TC. > > All comments welcome. > > > Doug Herr > Birdman of Sacramento > http://www.wildlightphoto.com > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Don don.dory at gmail.com