A Day on Merganser Lake

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is one of the more underrated woodpeckers in New England, in my opinion. Perhaps it’s because they aren’t seen as often as downy, hairy or red-bellied woodpeckers or have the wow factor of flickers or pileated woodpeckers. It’s always a treat to see these handsome birds with an interesting eating habit. This is from allaboutbirds.org: “They feed at sapwells—neat rows of shallow holes they drill in tree bark. They lap up the sugary sap along with any insects that may get caught there.”

And, of course, there’s always this:

(Repeat text for context:  I’m running out of COVID-19 lockdown themes so from now until things get back to some semblance of normalcy, I will simply post my best photo from the previous day. You could say it fits because of its uncertainty and challenge. I’ll call the series “A Day on Merganser Lake,” even though that’s not the real name of the lake I live near in southwestern Connecticut, it’s just a nod to my favorite duck family.)

The sapsucker shown is a female. Males have red throats.