Rocky ledges, woodpeckers, and chipmunks in the White Mountains - Conway, New Hampshire

     In November 2014, I traveled to Conway, New Hampshire to document mountainous New England scenery and fall wildlife activity. We started at Echo Lake State Park. After taking in the dramatic rock-ledge, we set out for its summit. Making our way around the lake, we noticed the chipmunks were busy preparing for winter. They were timid, but I was surprised at how interested they were in us.

Rocky cliff face - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

Chipmunk interrupted while gathering acorns (left) and peeking out at me from it's burrow (right) - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     
     

    Here in the southern White Mountains, there's more deciduous forest than in more northern areas, which means plenty of beech and oak to provide nuts and acorns for small mammals. We also noticed some signs of woodpecker activity (photo below). The bird that did this is New England's largest woodpecker (roughly the size of a crow) and primarily feeds on carpenter ants^1,2.

Holes in a tree created by a Pileated Woodpecker - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire.

     Continuing up a gentle rise at the base of the mountain, I found a smaller woodpecker keeping busy. The red patch on his head indicates that this is a male. This is a downy woodpecker. It's cousin, the hairy woodpecker is also found throughout New England and looks very similar, but is slightly larger. The length of a downy woodpecker's bill is about 1/3 of the distance between the base of its bill and the back of its head, which is shorter than the bill of a hairy woodpecker. Downy woodpeckers also have black markings on their white tail feathers. In this region, most hairy woodpeckers have completely white tail feathers and their bills are about as long as their heads. 

Male downy woodpecker - Echo Lake State Park, Conway New Hampshire

     We came to the top of our first peak and got a great view of the cliff face, then started making our way to its summit. 

A rock face at Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     Enroute, I encountered what could have been the first woodpecker's mate, with her head buried in a hole in a snag (dead tree). I liked the lighting conditions rendered by the hemlock trees in this part of the woods, so I ended up taking many photos of this bird.  

Female downy woodpecker - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     Notice that there is no red cap on this one... (female) 

Female downy woodpecker - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     
     You can also see the 'zygodactyl' foot clinging to the tree (photo below). Zygodactyl indicates that there are two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward, though in this picture she has her backward-pointing toes stretched out to the sides (some other animals with zygodactyl foot structures include toucans and chameleons). Also note the black bars on the white tail feathers on each side of tail, indicating that she's not a hairy woodpecker.

Dorsal view of a female downy woodpecker - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     Moving on, we encountered another timid-but curious chipmunk. This one had it's cheeks stuffed with winter food. We also came across a chickadee curiously busy in a beech tree. I couldn't figure out what it was pecking at, but saw other chickadees doing this later that day. (If anyone knows what this behavior is please leave a comment below!) 

Chipmunk with stuffed cheeks - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

Chickadee - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     
     At the top of the second peak, we got a nice view. When I travel to places like this, I always hope to see animals I don't normally see. Chipmunks, chickadees, and downy woodpeckers all live in my backyard. I was really hoping to encounter the pileated woodpecker after seeing several large rectangular holes in trees throughout our hike today. But, the nice views and scenery made up for it. 

Scenic view from peak - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

     We descended the mountain and were making our way back to the parking lot. The best wildlife sightings usually happen when you least expect it. We were actually cutting through the parking lot of a resort at the base of the mountain when I spotted this pileated woodpecker.

Pileated woodpecker - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

    This is the largest woodpecker in North America. (The ivory-billed woodpecker was larger, but has recently been declared extinct). I spotted it from far away, and had to quickly remove my pack and extract my camera. Then I tried to stealthily run closer to get a decent shot. I only had it in view long enough for three snaps. I don't know if it flew away or if it disappeared into the hole that its head was in when I first got a glimpse of it (photo below). In the photo above, you can see what's probably some sort of bug at the end of its bill.

Pileated woodpecker with it's head in a tree - Echo Lake State Park, Conway, New Hampshire

Here's where you can find Echo Lake State Park and all of its wonders and woodpeckers (use buttons in lower right corner to zoom out and see where this place is relative to you or someplace you're familiar with):

Referenced Works:  
1. Elbroch, Mark, and Eleanor Marks. 2001. Bird Tracks & Sign. 1st ed. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 
          USA.
2. Flemming, Stephen P., Gillian L. Holloway, E. Jane Watte, and Peter S. Lawrence. 1999. Characteristics of foraging trees
          selected by pileated woodpeckers in New Brunswick. Journal of Wildlife Management 63:461-469.