I happened to see a Pileated Woodpecker enter a neat round hole in a sycamore this morning. I sat down and watched from a distance for five or ten minutes, to see what might happen. The woodpecker remained inside the entire time, only peeping out occasionally. Looks like a nest hole. Nice to catch one so early in the season!
The Finger Lakes Trail passes directly under the tree, but of course observation is much better from some distance off to the side. Since the tree is in a campground in Lower Robert Treman Park, I might as well share directions that will permit observation from a distance. Park in the FLT / Lick Brook/ fishing access parking area on the east side of rte 13 along the south bank of Enfield Creek. Follow the FLT west under the highway. Fifty yards beyond, the trail reaches the campground lane. Walk west on the lane about 100 yards, until you reach campsite #71. Make yourself comfortable at the conveniently situated picnic table, and look south across the lane into the open woods. At the back, you'll easily spot the sycamore, which has an old fissure in its trunk, maybe 16' above the ground, and just a short distance above the fissure, the woodpecker hole. -Geo -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
