Nature Note:Red-bellied Woodpecker

A red-bellied woodpecker has been visiting the property for about a week.This forest bird is attracted to the maturing timber.It has been doing some excavating of old scars on the trees,no doubt looking for a nest tree.It even ate some bird seed from the ground under the feeder.Actually,it has a scarlet cap.There is no readily visible red on its belly,if there is any at all.It gives a rattle call.This is the most time a red-bellied has spent on this land.

Nature Note:Low Traffic

Traffic at the bird feeder has been low recently.The other day,I found out why:a Cooper's hawk flew off as I approached.The Cooper's is the largest of the two common forest hawks in the Mid-Atlantic region.It preys mainly on birds and small mammals.The Cooper's has been visiting the feeder for some years now.That doesn't bother me.It's just another part of the ecological web.The birds of prey keep the other species healthy by preventing overpopulation.

Nature Note:Forest Visitor

A tufted titmouse-no,I am not making that name up-visited the feeder yesterday.It is a forest species.In the winter,it forms mixed flocks with chickadees and nuthatches.The small gray bird with a crest and rather large eyes has been a rare guest to this point,yet with several of the trees maturing,maybe I'll be seeing more of them.They might feel safer now.