July in the San Juan Mountains on Cimarron Ridge, above the Cimarron River. 9,000 foot elevation. I saw a black shape dart through the trees. Black backed with white belly and a dangerous sharp bill. Awl like. Not owl like. A spot of blood on its head. Bright blood but not real. I grabbed my camera and took off in pursuit. The shadow hid behind tree after tree and winged rapidly through the stand of quaking aspen trees. I kept up my stalk and closed in but the bird kept shifting its position to the back side of the trees it was clinging to, on the side facing away from me. It seemed to have an uncanny ability to stay hidden. Sneaky. Stealthy. A very uncooperative bird.
I finally got close enough for a shot, and tripped the shutter several times. I nailed a good picture of a Hairy Woodpecker. At closer examination of my pictures I was astonished to see two woodpeckers in one of the photos. I had no idea there were two birds in the vicinity so it was a nice surprise.
The first documentation of a Hairy Woodpecker was in the journals of Lewis and Clark on April 8th, 1805 on the Missouri River, in what is now in North Dakota. This bird was seen at winter camp near the Mandan Indian villages. The sighting was never confirmed but experts think it was either a Hairy Woodpecker or a Downy woodpecker, which have much the same colored plumage and differ mainly in size, with the former being larger. The bird may have also been the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, but there isn't enough information in the journals to make a determination. Both the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers are year round residents of the forests along the Missouri River, in the stands of Plains Cottonwood (Populus deltoides var. occidentalis).
The mountains of the Cimarron are perfect habitat for foraging woodpeckers, with lots of old growth forest and many snags to feed and nest in. The high peaks above the valleys are jagged rock with pointy crags and towers like columns. Like ancient fortress walls. Its a great place for birds. Even bears. And naturalists and campers who can run through the woods for no obvious purpose or reason. Crashing the aspen.
