I had an appointment down in the Twin Cities late this morning. Thus, I decided to leave early enough to both hike the Fish Lake Nature Trails (Google Maps GPS Link) in East Bethel (a northern suburb on the fringes of the metro) and look for birds. These trails and their Savannah habitat are noted for Red-Headed Woodpeckers. If you are coming from the north and heading over to Minneapolis (not St. Paul), the detour will not add much time to your drive, but the birding may delay your arrival!  🙂

The University of Minnesota manages this habitat for research, which limits these area one may hike in the Spring & Summer, but a visit is till worth the price of admission (free). Three volunteers were doing a formal bird count for the U of M, but those were the only other folks enjoying the beautiful morning.

I was dumbfounded to actually find a fight taking place over one female Red-Headed Woodpecker, and then to actually get photographs of the couple mating. Enjoy!!

Red-Headed Woodpeckers Mating

The Female Having a Time Out Afterwards!

Red-Headed Woodpecker Take-Off and Flight