An excellent friend saw her first yellow-bellied sapsucker this weekend at the Garden.
It wasn't so long ago that I saw my first confirmation that sapsuckers actually exist (we see their evidence everywhere). I saw a pair last weekend (remarkably), but had seen several at the Garden (with my gardening companion) a couple of weeks ago. He remembered that we saw our first sighting last fall (at the Garden).
Not long after I saw two yellow-bellied sapsuckers hopping along a large branch of a big red oak, I spotted a strangely-bobbing shape.
With binoculars, I saw that it was another yellow-bellied sapsucker (I think), clinging to the end of a branch eating some sort of fruits (probably of a vine, but I'm not sure of what it might be).
Earlier this afternoon, I saw mockingbirds feasting on Oriental Bittersweet fruits; not a good thing, as it's invading further south, after spreading throughout the Northeastern U.S.
We've been wanting to see a yellow-bellied sapsucker for awhile. Their evidence is everywhere, in the evenly drilled holes in the bark of sweetgums, maples, and other preferred trees. Sapsuckers are winter residents here, moving north in spring.
This morning, we caught sight of a woodpecker moving up the trunk of a Bradford pear. A largish bird, my gardening companion could tell that it was a bird he hadn't seen before (through his binoculars). I was fortunate enough to get a couple of reasonably clear shots, which confirmed its identity: a male yellow-bellied sapsucker!
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