October birds

We are getting ready for FeederWatch, the citizen-science project online for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  The “guild” of winter birds is forming in the woods, and the most noticeable visitor this week is the male Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus.  His red cap is continuous from his beak to its pointed tip, and he has a bit of red in his malar stripes on each side of his face.

molting birds

The Blue Jay, molting into his new feathers, will look drastically better when his neck is feathered fully and the crest on his head grows out.