Colliers Mills WMA 8/2--Northern Bobwhite

Where were they when I needed them a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to keep my Bird A Day streak going? Northern Bobwhites have been reported sporadically at Colliers Mills, but until today I hadn't seen any. I thought they might be in some distant fields, so I've spent quite a bit of time tromping around remote areas of the WMA looking for them or pheasants. Colliers Mills is a big place. So today, ironically, when 5 bobwhites came out of the bushes and walked along the road, it was by the lake, about 5 minutes away from where I parked the car.

Since the state stocks quail for hunters in places like Colliers Mills and Assunpink, I have been a little leery about whether the birds would be countable. However, breeding birds are countable, and since this appeared to be a family group, 4 juveniles following an adult, I have no qualms about counting and listing them.

At the same time that the  bobwhite scurried onto the road I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo call from a large tree behind me. I was more intent on the bobwhites and didn't spend any time looking for the cuckoo.

Power line cut looking east

I walked very far back in the WMA today, well past the power line cut, past the overgrown pond where I sometimes see Wood Ducks (but not today) until the road curved around. Since there are no maps of the WMA, I didn't know if it would take me, eventually, in a full circle, so I walked until it seemed like there were no more interesting birds to be found then retraced my steps. Birds along that road were a Pine Warbler, a couple of Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a Northern Flicker, a Field Sparrow, plus a couple of Chipping Sparrows, which for some reason seemed out of place so deep in the woods.

What bird can do this? 

I've noticed a utility pole along the power line cut that is full of woodpecker holes, but until today I hadn't really looked at it. The holes are so deep and so numerous, that I can't figure out what kind of woodpecker would make them. Red-headed Woodpeckers, my first guess, don't really drill into trees, according to some quick research, and there aren't many Pileated Woodpeckers around the area. I can't believe little Downy Woodpeckers or even their larger cousins Hairy Woodpeckers could do so much damage. That pretty much leaves Red-bellies--again, they don't seem to do that kind of drilling. So maybe it isn't woodpeckers. It's a quandary.

For the 4 miles or so I walked I had 32 species.
Northern Bobwhite  5
Great Blue Heron  2
Turkey Vulture  3
Rock Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1    Heard
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  1    Heard
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  5    Heard
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  3
Purple Martin  2
Tree Swallow  100
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  10
White-breasted Nuthatch  2    Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
American Robin  10
Gray Catbird  12
European Starling  30
Pine Warbler  1
Eastern Towhee  5
Chipping Sparrow  2
Field Sparrow  1    Heard
Indigo Bunting  1
Common Grackle  2
American Goldfinch  2    Heard