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Red-naped Sapsuckers



The Red-naped Sapsuckers have arrived at the higher elevations of Weber County.  I saw six yesterday morning near Snowbasin Ski Resort.  One male was drumming and vocalizing just east of new Snowbasin Road between mm 1 and mile 1.2.  The other five birds were in two separate territories along the Maples Loop Nordic Trail (the trailhead is at the northeast corner of the Olympic Run parking lot).  These two territories are repeats from last year.  One pair is working on a new excavation in a tree that hosted last year's brood.  The other three birds chased and drummed in the immediate vicinity of an aspen that fledged a family last year.
 
Unlike other times of the year when the sapsuckers are notoriously quiet, right now the birds are detectable through either their distinctive drumming pattern (fast and rolling at the start, drifting off to single taps) or their cat-like vocalizations.  The drummers  chose either very dead, gray aspen snags or gray dead branches of otherwise living trees.  I was able to watch two of the drumming males closely and noticed they chose to drum at the edge of very long, vertical cracks in the tree trunks.  I speculated that the drumming location was selected to amplify the sound. 
 
Maples Loop Nordic Trail and the surrounding woods is not yet free of snow for walkers.  The compacted sugar-snow around the tree wells was sometimes as deep as about 3 feet.  Snowshoes are recommended.
 
Kris