Red-bellied Woodpeckers are on the move

Red-bellied Woodpecker, male

Our Sugar Maple

The fall color is still peaking here. Many of the Red Maples have dropped their leaves, but the Sugar Maples are in their glory. We have many more Red Maples than Sugar Maples on our property. Above is our best Sugar Maple (which is surrounded by the Red Maples who have already dropped their leaves.) Photo was taken at the end of the day in the golden side light. We just go outside and ooh and ahh. It's a great time of year to be living in NH.

On the bird side of things, Palm Warblers, Juncos and White-throated Sparrows are migrating through. Yesterday we had two Red-bellied Woodpeckers here. They are very uncommon on our property and we have only seen them here a few times. Red-bellied Woodpeckers seem to be making an incursion into NH and other areas right now, with numerous reports from around the state ranging from coastal areas, northern areas and southern areas (we live in the southwest region of NH). Today there are several reports from Nova Scotia. It is believed that Red-bellied Woodpeckers are undergoing a range expansion to the north and west. They breed over much of the eastern half of the country and are thick in the Southeast, but have not been that common in the far upper Midwest, or northern New England or the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Maybe that is about to change.