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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
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