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Posted by Marcello Gomes on 17:02:54 03/13/14
I've had the gift of seeing a female Hairy Woodpecker this past Sunday. I spotted it at Jonathan Dickinson Park. It was in the area past the train tracks on the Pine forest on the right hand side of the road on the way to the camping area. It was flying around from tree to tree and it was skittish to say the least. The call was squeaky and body size looked bigger in flight. I spoke to one Park Ranger at the gate and he said he hasn't seen one there in the 30 years he's been working there (who knows how many times he's looked for that species - maybe a few. I don't know. I wanted to make sure I posted the correct bird and not a common Downy. I did a thorough research on the species and looked for the key differences between the species (as you know they are very similar in looks). Most books say that it is uncommon to rare - especially in South Florida. I posted some photos as proof of it. I do see that on TAS there were two previous records: Vincent Lucas in Collier County early in 2012 and Michael Stout in early December, '07. I found no other records so I think that this bird would qualify as a rare one. Not ashamed to say that that was a Lifer for me! I have added some other birds that have been showing up in the area. I posted one in Toe's honor:)
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