Another early start, Finally Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, a bit more groceries, many birds of prey and more woodpeckers in the afternoon.
We decided to try a very early start and go back to the trees with woodpecker nests in the national forest nearby. We started before dawn and parked Speedy within view of the nest holes. As the sun came up, a red-cockaded woodpecker emerged from the nest, looked around a bit and flew off into the woods—our first sighting.
It was off to pick up a few more groceries at a local supermarket after that.
We drove over to the Center for Birds of Prey on the way back to Buck Hall. This is a reserve and rehabilitation facility for raptors. They have dozens of eagles, hawks, falcons, owls and vultures in large enclosures, some open to view, but many with locally injured birds recovering. We arrived just in time for a guided tour of the facility. They have native birds and also exotics and we got to see quite a few close up, especially at the end of the tour.
The tour through the grounds ended with a flying demonstration of several birds, eagles, harriers, falcons, a vulture and an owl. It was quite a treat, but it was not over yet. We walked over to a section called the Owl Wood, where they had a large collection of owls, but the highlight was when they brought out a basket of owlets.
We walked through all of the open areas after the tour and saw as much as possible. So many raptors—too bad Ellen can't count them on her life list.
After spending the afternoon back at Buck Hall, we decided to give the woodpeckers another look near sunset. It was very rewarding. Evidently they end their day be returning to their nest holes, spending a fair amount of time in the nearby trees before calling it a day. We saw five different red-cockaded woodpeckers in two areas of the forest.
Photos
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