Mead Gardens, 10/26/2013

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Red-headed Woodpecker
Mead Gardens has been exceptionally slow all fall with very few warblers stopping by. But I still like to visit from time to time, especially during the Orange Adubon Society Birdwalks.  So yesterday morning I joined the group that was there and had  a great time.  The biggest highlight was seeing a couple Red-headed Woodpeckers.  These are the first I've seen in the park; they've been here for a couple weeks now--extremely unusual for this species.  At least one of them has excavated a hole in the park, and we watched it actively gathering acorns and caching them away.  Hopefully that means it's planning to stick around for a while.  In all we found six species of woodpecker on the property: Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and Pileated Woodpecker.

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Red-headed Woodpecker
We also had many House Wrens and a Scarlet Tanager. Warblers were tougher to come by, but we had several Palm Warblers, a Black and White Warbler, Pine Warblers, my first fall Yellow-rumped Warbler (ugh), and a Northern Parula.  I also found my first Savannah Sparrow in the park.

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House Wren Calling
Also around the park it was fun to see a Green Darner, a Monarch Butterfly, and a turtle. The head of this turtle appears to be all black, so I'm not sure of it ID yet.  Right now I'm guessing a musk turtle, but I'm not sure.

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Green Darner
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Monarch Butterfly
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Turtle

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