Weekly Woodpecker Roundup - 1/16/09

This is an idea that I have been toying with for a little while now. When I am on-line, (and being the self-professed woodpecker fanatic that I am) anything about woodpeckers tends to jump off the screen at me. And with all the wonderful birding blogs that are out there, I usually come across a few woodpecker related posts each week. I have no desire to become a repository of all woodpecker-related information (well, actually I wouldn't mind that, but I simply do not have that kind of time on my hands) but since a good number of hits to my blog come from woodpecker related searches, I thought that it would be nice to highlight posts that I find each week from my fellow bloggers - everything from a photo that somebody may have taken from outside their kitchen window, to speculation about a witnessed behavior, to an in-depth ornithological study - it's all fair game.

Also - if at any time you have posted something to your blog about woodpeckers, maybe you'll think of me and drop me a line to let me know. I always love reading these posts!


So here are the posts from the last week or so that showed up on my radar for the premier edition of my Weekly Woodpecker Roundup:

Kyle of As the Mind Wanders witnessed a Downy Woodpecker working on a tree near to work and got some pictures of him doing his thing.

Rambling Woods assembled an informative and very reader-friendly post, linking some info from Cornell, about woodpecker damage to homes and suggestions on what you can do to try to prevent it.

From the comments of the above post, I found Betsy's post on her Joyful Reflections blog about their experiences with woodpeckers at their new home, along with some great pics of their backyard woodpeckers (5 species so far - how lucky!)

Amy over at the Magnificent Frigatebird Blog posted a few great videos of Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied woodpeckers that were taken with her Wingscapes Birdcam. (Boy, do I want one of those!)

A little bit more than a week ago (but I'm allowing myself a little leeway this first post) James Smith of Pioneer Birding posted a few digi-binned photos of a immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that was visiting his feeders in Amherst, MA.

John Riutta, aka the Born Again Bird Watcher, got a stellar photo of a Red-shafted Northern Flicker while snowbound during the Christmas Snowstorms in Oregon.

Before heading off to warmer climes, Sharon posted a quick shot of an acrobatic Downy Woodpecker.

I am always interested in any news about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the continued searches - positive or negative. And Cyberthrush is right on top of it with his Ivory-Bills LiVE! blog which always has pertinent news. Whether relating potential sighting reports, news from Cornell and other search teams or individuals, political news, notes on published papers, or well thought-out commentaries, I always enjoy stopping by.

Moving to the international front, Tom of Bird Snapping got some great shots (found in the middle of the post) while out on a rather icy day in Bristol.

Nick in Saskatchewan posted a beautiful head-shot of a Pileated Woodpecker on his blog.

And finally, this week I wanted to highlight another blog that I've been visiting more than occasionally. Gerard Gorman's Woodpeckers of Europe blog is dedicated to the ten species of woodpeckers that breed in Europe, and features some great information and photos of the Picidae family. I expect you will be seeing this blog featured here regularly, but in the meantime, spend a little time going through the archives. If you like woodpeckers at all, you won't be disappointed!
Incidentally, Gerard also literally wrote the book on the Woodpeckers of Europe. I've not been able to get my hands on a copy yet, but if some generous benefactor out there was feeling particularly philanthropic towards a poor blogger, this would be a much appreciated addition to my library. (Cue the violin music)


Did I miss you or somebody that you know? Leave me a comment or e-mail and let me know!