Black-backed Woodpecker

Never hear of a Black-backed Woodpecker?  Don’t feel bad, neither had we until yesterday when our boss, Ranger Joel mention the nesting Black-backs in the campground.  We were ignorant enough to assume that he had misspoken and meant to say Ladder-back Woodpecker.  Well, we got an education.  We found the nest and did some reading and learned about three-toed woodpeckers, of which the Black-backed belong. Look closely at this photo of a feeding female and you can see the baby’s mouth inside the nest. It also looks like the mother has a lot of yellow pine pollen on her which is thick in the air and cover everything right now here at Collier Memorial State Park.