Steve and Judy's Travels!

  Persistence pays.  We got the Red Cockaded Woodpecker.  Number 485 for us.  Funny thing, in the search for the woodpecker, we got two other lifers, the Bachman’s Sparrow, Number 486, and the Brown Headed Nuthatch, Number 487.  We’ve been looking for the nuthatch.  The Sparrow was a total surprise.   Birding doesn’t always work like you expect.  We went to the forest every day to look for each bird, the nuthatch and the woodpecker, in the appropriate habitat.  Today, while I was getting out of the car, coffee in one hand, car keys in the other, the brown headed nuthatch flew down and landed on a parking bumper post right next to the car.   After we gave up on the woodpecker, walking back to the car, we found one stuck to a tree about twenty feet away.  Persistence pays.  

  A woodpecker walk in the forest each day.  The first day the forest was empty.  Today produced eighteen birds, including three woodpeckers.  No target bird yet though.  No red cockaded woodpecker.  No brown headed nuthatch.   The satellite work is done today.  Two more days to find the woodpecker and we move on regardless.      

  Reacquainted ourselves with the satellite guy (David).  He spent all afternoon on the roof.  The dish equipment is predictably corroded as a result of our life on the beach.  Every fitting he tries to fix comes apart in his hands.  He has applied a temporary fix (think duct tape).  The more permanent fix will take longer (think more parts).   Got an afternoon woodpecker walk again.  Got a really cool bird; a LeConte’s sparrow.  That’s not a bird we usually get on our own.  The only time we’ve ever seen him before was with professional help.   Here is a picture of the sparrow.  This is not my picture.  I got that good a look at him, but he is an elusive bird.  My look was brief.     Tuesday   We stayed home from work to watch the Inauguration.  Quite a moment.    

  A woodpecker walk in W. G. Jones Forest State Park.  Mature pine trees.  We got seven birds.  We got the largest woodpecker (Pileated), and the smallest (Downy), and a couple in between (Golden Fronted, Red Bellied)  Didn’t get the target bird, the Red Cockaded Woodpecker.  Maybe Monday.   So far we’ve gotten thirty birds at the RV Park and seven birds at the place we go birding.  Maybe we should have parked the motorhome in the G. W. Jones Forest, and driven to the RV Park for birding walks.   Found Hey Boy’s Barbeque.   Here’s a picture of the pipit.   Monday: Satellite dish repair guy.