Starting week two of our bird-a-day challenge. This is probably the last woodpecker in my series - the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest of our local species. My field notes describe observing a female foraging on a stump while I walked a trail in a local preserve on September 25th.

Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus,
King Riverside Conservation Area, Tolland Connecticut

January really is a tough time for birding, in Connecticut anyway. The birds take cover when the wind picks up, when the sun starts to sink, when a jay calls, when a hawk cruises overhead. This doesn't affect this artist too much, but it's a different matter for the photographer... The Northern Harrier is one of the few birds Jorge sees just about every day, and today she was the only bird available for a photo!

Northern Harrier, Circus hudsonius
Horsebarn Hill, UConn campus, Storrs-Mansfield Connecticut

Even colder and windier today! But at least it was sunny... Continuing my woodpecker theme I've gone to Bulgaria, where in September we watched the Eurasian Green Woodpecker at a spectacular location on the Arda River at Madzharovo. The river makes several narrow hairpin curves in this region, and from our vantage point we could see the whole sweep of the curve. And what's not to love about a green woodpecker?

Eurasian Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis
Arda River at Madzharovo Bulgaria, September 10, 2024

Heading out after work with his camera again, Jorge didn't expect to find much, but this time he was wrong! A pair of Common Ravens was out over Horsebarn Hill performing an intricate courtship display, with loops and climbs and dives and grappling feet, and finally they landed - with the female on the bottom, to copulate.

Common Raven, Corvus corax, copulating
Horsebarn Hill, Mansfield Connecticut

The days continue cold and windy, not an easy time out there for the birds. Today I did some field sketching. There was a lot of activity at the feeders - all three of our regular species of woodpecker came in for breakfast, the Red-bellied, the Downy and the Hairy.  I sketched the female Red-bellied Woodpecker (center) when she flew in to the seed tray. The male Downy Woodpecker is at the lower left, and the female Hairy Woodpecker at the lower right. There's a real size difference between these two species, which you can see relative to the suet cake they both perched on. Assorted other species in the margins...

(center) Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus
(lower left) Downy Woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens
(lower right) Hairy Woodpecker, Dryobates villosus

Birds were scarce at lunchtime on the UConn campus today, and though we found six species, and Jorge photographed a few, the Rock Pigeons seemed to sum up the day better than the others. They appear huddled together for warmth against the 24F air temperature which prevailed for most of the day. Like yesterday's Cooper's Hawk, the pigeons hang out near the horse barns - no doubt enjoying grain left uneaten by the horses.

Rock Pigeon, Columba livia, Mansfield Connecticut

 I started new theme today - woodpeckers! This wild-eyed clown of a woodpecker is found in the far western states of the US, south through Mexico and Central America, and into Colombia. The Acorn Woodpecker hangs out in social groups, caches acorns and other foods in holes that it excavates in decayed trees and telephone poles, and in general is a delight for us birdwatchers. We saw this guy at Cave Creek Ranch in Portal Arizona in April.

Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, Portal Arizona

The cold blustery weather continued today, but it didn't keep this Cooper's Hawk from the need to hunt. This one can often be found near the horse barns on the UConn campus, where it chooses from among pigeons, starlings and cowbirds. This group of hawks (formerly genus Accipiter) are bird-hunters, whereas the other three raptors from Horsebarn Hill that Jorge has already shared here will primarily take mammals.

Cooper's Hawk, Astur cooperii, Mansfield Connecticut

A blustery cold January day - the only remedy is to forget about the cold and wind and go birding, and then come home and mess around with birds some more! This morning we tried to see a western vagrant, dipped on that bird but it got me thinking about other western birds and I remembered that we had seen the Steller's Jay in April 2024 on Mount Lemmon near Tucson Arizona. Hooray! another jay!!

Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

The other bird we sought out today (successfully) is Jorge's bird of the day - a Red-headed Woodpecker. This species is occasionally found in Connecticut, but is not at all common. This individual appears to be a territorial male - the female looks identical, but probably wouldn't be seen chasing other woodpeckers away. We'll keep an eye on this guy and see if he sticks around!

Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, East Haddam, Connecticut

 And quite possibly my favorite jay, the ubiquitous Blue Jay of Eastern North America. Cyanocitta cristata makes frequent forays farther west, especially in mountainous areas, which it shares with the equally stunning Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri - the only other member of the genus.

Every morning I take a handful of peanuts out to the feeding tray and sing out to "my jays" - Come for peanuts jay jay blue jay, come for peanuts! And by the time I'm back inside and the door has closed behind me they've arrived and are gobbling up the peanuts.

Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, Mansfield, Connecticut

Jorge's bird for today is the Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris - always a pleasant surprise to find out on Mirror Lake on the UConn campus. There were a couple of females there today, hanging out with the Mallards and Canada Geese. The Aythya ducks are divers, not dabblers as are the Mallards, so when there were five ducks sitting and suddenly only four, we knew it was something different.

Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, Mansfield, Connecticut

 We made it to day two, and I have continued my theme of jays! This is the Eurasian Jay, Garrulus glandarius, found throughout Europe, into the Middle East, in scattered mountainous regions all across Asia and throughout Japan, eastern China and into Vietnam. With such a wide geographic distribution it's not surprising that there is some geographic variation. I've painted the subspecies from southern Spain, ssp. fasciatus, which we saw in Granada. The inset of the head is subspecies anatoliae, from western Turkey, which we saw in Istanbul. It is part of a larger group of black-capped Eurasian Jays.

Jorge's Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, has made a successful catch of a large rodent, which it is now picking apart for lunch. This raptor is another resident of Horsebarn Hill, often seen perched in trees adjacent to the marshes and fields.