Finding a new bird is always a thrill, and when it’s part of an unplanned birding stop at a new location, it’s all the more exciting. While observing a “clan” of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, a couple documentary photos were a nice addition to the life bird experience.

Driving across state after state last Thursday, I started in Pensacola, Florida, crossed into Alabama and dropped south of Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island, a barrier island I have long wanted to check out. I followed the Alabama shore west a while, then returned to the big highway to continue through Mississippi with a good head of steam. But as the sunlight began to dim a bit, I felt the urge to stop at a location where I could photograph – water-oriented birds might be my best bet I thought, and as I crossed into eastern Louisiana a brown roadside sign declared the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge was just down the road – just what the doctor ordered!

A little-known refuge, Big Branch Marsh is sizeable as it spreads along the northeast side of Lake Pontchartrain, the massive lake famous for its proximity to New Orleans far to the south. I was immediately surprised to learn the refuge supported a population of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, an endangered species and a woodpecker I have never laid eyes on before. I have long wished to cross paths with the species, so what an exciting prospect to find a new bird and possibly try for photos – let’s definitely give it a try.

I pulled up at the location suggested in the refuge brochure at the head of a bayou boardwalk where a cluster of old growth southern pine trees had cavities used by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. I no more than stepped out of my vehicle before I heard a faint woodpecker contact call, followed by a short tree to tree flight by a smallish woodpecker-like bird. Could it be? Why not? I eased forward about 100 feet before stopping short when some light tapping and dropping chips of bark pin-pointed a potential new life bird. And there it was, creeping around the tall pine’s trunk, stopping to tap a few times as a couple more bark chips dropped – Bingo!

Well that was a quick and pleasing victory, but just the start of an engaging period spent among a “clan” of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. I followed the first bird with my camera, and to my surprise, as a photo presented itself, a second bird landed about a foot below the first, and a third bird slipped into view from the other side of the tree – Hooray! From that point, I followed the birds as they foraged a bit too high, mostly avoiding the side of the tree illuminated by the warm late afternoon sunshine. But every once in a while, a photo chance opened up, and I kept on the trail of the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers as they moved from tree to tree, branch to branch.

I really wasn’t getting great photo ops until 2 of the woodpeckers crossed an opening and started foraging on trees within their cavity cluster. Then they foraged more on the sunlight sides of the trees, perhaps because the air was cooling a bit. The woodpeckers were pretty vocal, making contact calls throughout the period, but while within their “home” cluster, 2 other woodpeckers flew from adjacent cavities and emitted loud classic species calls. Unlike similar species such as Downy and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-cockaded woodpeckers are very social, living in family groups, and nesting in “clans” within a closely aligned cavity tree cluster.

Soon thereafter, the woods became quiet and seemed empty. I waited patiently for a while, not anxious to hit the road again until the sun set in the west – the direction I was headed. Even so, it gave me a few moments to reflect on my chance stop and interaction with these rare birds during this very impromptu unplanned stop. But it gave me the chance to visit another refuge during this coastal trip, and it provided the opportunity to find, observe, and photograph a new species in a new area of the country.

Article and photographs by Paul Konrad

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