Acorn Woodpeckers

During a visit to California last year, a friend and I went birding. Early one morning we headed to Rancho San Antonio, a wilderness area in Silicon Valley. In a previous life I had lived in this area and had hiked often in this sprawling nature park. However, that was before I became interested in birds. This hike was a new experience as the focus of the walk was very different: I tried to find hints and clues to where the birds might be.

Along the way my friend pointed out various places where he had seen birds of interest: a California Quail on that meadow, a Red-tailed Hawk up on this tree, and so on. However, as we walked we saw little of interest. On this crisp sunny California fall day all the birds had decided to be elsewhere.

After hiking about a mile, we came across a small homestead "farm" with some animals, a barn and a cottage. In front was a small water tap

with a tiny watering hole directly underneath it. Since California was in a drought, this was a valuable water source for the birds. As I watched, small Munias appeared. One or two Blue Jays also came but they moved away fast. After a few photographs we kept walking.

Presently we came to a fork on the trail, beyond which the vegetation - oak, sycamore, bay, laurel and other trees - grew dense. We debated which direction to take. It was now late morning and the prospects of finding birds grew slim. Soon we turned around, passing more Munias at the watering hole.

Our trail was bordered by a low wooden fence on each side. As the trail curved gently to the right, a meadow opened up on our left. On the far side of the meadow was a grizzled old oak tree. I thought I saw movement on a branch. Stopping for a better look with my binoculars I realized it was a woodpecker. We found a spot on the fence where we could cross over. Crossing the meadow, we approached the tree.

Two woodpeckers perched on a horizontal branch. Unlike the colourful woodpeckers one sees in Bangladesh, these were black and white with a red circle on the crown of their head. They busily jumped from branch to branch. Then they flew off, one after another, towards another tree about a hundred feet away. It was a dead tree with a dried trunk. We both walked rapidly towards it.

As we watched the Acorn Woodpecker did its "thing."

It had flown here from the oak tree carrying an acorn in its mouth. The trunk of the dead tree was pockmarked with dozens of cavities it had dug. It deposited the acorn into one of them, supplementing its rainy day stock.

The day once again proved a valuable lesson for birding: there is no telling when and where luck may strike. You need to pay attention and hope for the best. If you give up you have lost.

For the author's daily bird photos, please follow "ihtishamkabir" on Instagram.