You see a woodpecker on the side of the tree. You want to see it better. But it slips around the trunk and disappears. It’s now on the other side.
This has happened before. These birds are smart little peckers. They know how to bug you. You know you’re not supposed to ascribe human motives to birds. So you push aside thoughts of his playing with you.
You move around to the other side of the tree. To do this you have to leave the trail, bushwhack through tick-infested brush. But you gotta see the name of this woodpecker. Is it a Downy, a Hairy, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker? Or maybe a yellow-bellied coward.
Because as soon as you get in position to see him, he creeps quickly around the trunk again, returning to the side where you’d first seen him.
Okay, now this is on.
You wade through the weeds and spring back onto the trail. Just as you get there, you catch sight of the bird’s black and white butt as it disappears around the side of the tree, returning to the place you can’t see.
This reminds you of how we never see the dark side of the moon. It reminds you of trying to see a pretty girl on the street as you drive by, but there’s a post between you and her, and as you move it continuously blocks your view. This makes you mad at the post. An utterly irrational response.
Now you wonder, is this irritation with the unnamed woodpecker equally irrational? No. The bird is different. He knows exactly what you’re doing, and he knows what he’s doing.
He’s going to play this game until you tire and move on so he can have the forest to himself, the way he likes it. You give it one more shot. You crash through the brush and get behind that tree.
No woodpecker. He heard you coming and has hopped to the other side. This could go on forever.
I need some ID help. While birding (ducking) along Fountain Creek in Colorado Springs last week, I came upon a strange little fellow. Swimming with the gadwalls, wigeons, green wing teal, mallards and shovelers was this little brown duck with black between his wings on his back, and a crest on his head that resembled a mohawk. Small eyes and a nervous nature. Ideas?
He’s not a merganser but does have similarities to the pied billed grebe.
Funny story- playing ring-around- the rosie with a bird.
I know this feeling all too well. I spent a season studying Acorn Woodpeckers; the work required identifying individual birds using field-readable color bands. Getting the basic ID of a woodpecker can be challenging, but having to sight 4 tiny leg bands and confirm a unique color combination is an entirely different beast. I routinely found myself crashing down hills and through bushes, my spotting scope rolling close behind. If I had a nickel for each woodpecker I cursed out that season…