Just returned from doing some Atlas Blocks on the Western Slope and
noticed several Red-headed Woodpecker postings. I also observed an
adult Red-headed Woodpecker in my Escalante Forks block in Mesa
County on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, around 11:00 A.M. The bird was
seen along a fence line with wooden posts in a grass hayfield. It
would sally forth now and then to flycatch before returning to a
wooden post. I was on private property with permission to bird and
was somewhat surprised at the location of the woodpecker (middle of a
an irrigated hayfield) until I realized that a riparian area with
Narrowleaf Cottonwoods was only about 1/4 mile away.
The authors of "Birds of Western Colorado Plateau and Mesa County"
indicate there have been only a dozen or so sightings in Western
Colorado mostly in Moffat and Routt counties. The only other Red-
headed Woodpecker I have seen in Western Colorado was in the 700 block
of Meeker Street (east side of the street) in the early 1950's as a
youngster walking to school - talk about a late posting!!! As a
youngster I had no idea that I had seen a rarity. After all, I had
seen pictures of the bird in books.
Mike Henwood
Morrison
Jefferson County
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