Tuesday, December 8, 2020,

This rather handsome bird is a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I found him at Frank Melville Park in Setauket. This may be the same exact tree that I photographed a juvenile Sapsucker on over a month ago.

Many of the trees in this park are quite popular with the Sapsuckers. These birds like to drill holes into certain trees. Then they lap up the resulting sap that flows out those holes. Some of the tress at Frank Melville are literally riddles with their holes. In the photo below, you can actually see some of the flowing sap. It’s that dark shiny fluid seeping from the hole that this bird has just excavated. JK.

JK