Winter Visitor – Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

It was a good morning for birding, including spotting my first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) of the season. This is a male who was happy to model for me.

These woodpeckers for the most part eat arthropods, along with fruits and berries, tree sap, nuts, bast (inner bark of trees), and tree buds. I’m always delighted to have them return. The birds of winter, a favorite part of my favorite season.

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.