Hal Scott Preserve, 5/24/2014
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Well, third time's a charm it seems. Today I made my third visit to Hal Scott Preserve (I went twice in the summer of 2013 and then today). This is the one park I know of where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers can be found in Orange County, but until today I haven't been able to find them here. I've seen lots of trees with white rings around them (indicating that at some point in time there has been a nest in the tree), but never any sight or sound of them. Until today, when I took a different route and got lucky I suppose. I found a pair of them together. One of them was pretty perturbed with a Downy Woodpecker. The Downy just seem like it had to be working the same tree with it, but every once in a while the Red-cockaded Woodpecker would chase off the Downy. It was pretty fun to watch. I just stood in one spot, and the woodpeckers were so interested in each other they didn't seem to mind me at all. Red-cockaded Wo...