Brown-headed Nuthatches gathering pine seeds

While working my way from the Delmarva Peninsula back on January 30, I stopped at Blackwater Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. From my last visit here, I learned at least two things: try to avoid weekends (can get quite busy) and park and walk big swaths of the beginning parts of the driving loop. So, this time I visited on a Monday, arriving near the crack of dawn, and had the place almost entirely to myself. I parked near the beginning, got the camera rigs together, and set off on foot. Loblolly Pine groves are frequent, and it wasn't long before I heard the squeak toy sounds of troupes of tiny Brown-headed Nuthatches (Sitta pusilla). The highly social little birds can be tough to observe well, let alone photograph, as they spend much time in the crowns of towering pines.

As I walked along, I came upon another band of nuthatches, but this group was much lower. They were making frequent raids on a young loblolly, laden with cones and many of them near eye level. In the image above a Brown-headed Nuthatch sits atop a cone, posing perfectly.

This is the shot I really hoped for - a nuthatch with pine seed in its bill. The small group was harvesting many seeds - pine seeds become a staple winter food - and were caching many of them among the bark of high limbs, or so it appeared. The process of seed extraction can take place rapidly and often a bird would be off like a shot once it had the seed. Or they would be partially blocked by needles, facing the wrong way, or otherwise uncooperative. Brown-headed Nuthatches do not take direction from people, and one is left hoping for a chance perfect pose. The animal above finally gave me pretty good documentation of his pine seed-harvesting activities.