Favoritos de satxmar

Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.

How many Acorn Woodpeckers can fit into one Pyrex dish birdbath? Link to close-up photo observation of the woodpecker’s tongue: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189914662

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) is a small woodpecker, 23cm (9 inches) long, with strong claws, short legs, and stiff tail feathers. Male has larger red cap at crown than female. They are sociable birds, generally found in small, vocal colonies of 2-12 birds. In the fall they drill small holes into tree trunks (or telephone poles) and pound an acorn into each hole for their winter food supply. Colonies use the same "granary tree" year after year. They are often found in California Oak woodlands.

"These colorful natives live in large groups in western oak woodlands where they consistently store thousands of acorns in trees helped by their fascinating social dynamics. Family groups hold territories, and one member is always on alert to guard the hoard from thieves while others race through the trees giving parrot-like waka-waka calls that serve as alerts and warnings for competitors to stay away. The family groups span generations, as young woodpeckers stay with their parents for several years to help raise more clutches. All members of an acorn Woodpecker family group spend much of their time storing acorns in a granary tree, which may see up to 50,000 holes."
From Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History website.

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/acorn-woodpecker

Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map of Acorn Woodpecker: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Melanerpes-formicivorus

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017, pp.306-307.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, pp. 245-245.

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p. 304.

E Bird https://ebird.org/explore and https://ebird.org/species/acowoo/

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ (enter common name) and https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Acorn_Woodpecker

An excellent book-- (The) Monterey Pine Forest: Coastal California's Living Legacy, 2nd. ed, The Monterey Pine Forest Watch, 2018, p. 17.

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

editing this to note that is a stray (wild) cat who is actively feral and is not kept or maintained by anyone and survives by eating rats in the garden center.

feral cat with what i believe is a rat it caught in its mouth. this caught brought me this dead rat and the half eaten remains of another rat

A carpenter bee flew around before entering a hole in the fence. It went in and turned round and looked back at me! When I got close, the bee backed up into the hole. When I moved back, the bee stuck it's head out again.

I put out a tray with some rotting bananas to see what critters I could attract.

I was amazed a while ago to find some leafwing butterflies all over my bananas; I counted 9 of them, and I believe all are Tropical Leafwing judging from the wavy edge to the rear wing margins, the extra short "tooth" and the extra submarginal line on the underside of the wings. This is an uncommon to rare species in the Austin area but November is a good time for them. This is the first leafwing of any species for my yard.