On December 9, 2015 I completed my yearly count of overwintering birds at Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Nature Preserve in Mason County, Illinois, with a focus on the red-headed woodpecker. One year earlier, I counted the highest number of red-headed woodpeckers at this site since I began this survey in 2003; so I was surprised on this latest count to have detected zero. At the same time, I try to have few expectations each year, as the number of overwintering red-headed woodpeckers tends to vary quite a bit from year to year. It is also noteworthy that counts of blue jays declined since last year. For insight on why this might have happened, please see previous posts on this topic beginning with this link.
Click on image to enlarge.
Other bird data from Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Nature Preserve can be found at www.ebird.org.
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