Tribute to the Brown Creeper

Zebedee Wetlands, Thetford, VT, April 2016

 

“A dainty, delicate bird.

Looks like a piece of loose bark.

Colored like a dried leaf, brown and streaked, light underneath; ochre band on wings.

Sounds like an errant hearing aid, high and thin, barely audible.

Louder than a thought, quieter than a twittering beech leaf.”

— Ted Levin

 

Ted’s recent Newsletter inspired me to post some photos of one of my favorite birds, the Brown Creeper.  As Ted wrote, “Brown creeper flits from one tree to the next. Wanders up and around . . . now I see him, now I don’t. ” It is a master of camouflage as this photo attests.

Monhegan Island, Maine, September 2018

 

When it finishes with one tree it flies down to the base of another to repeat the process. It then spirals up the trunk in short, jerky motions using its tail for support.  But Ted says it better, “Checks crevices for spiders, cocoons, and insect eggs. Slender, curved bill scrutinizes bark like water-witcher scrutinizes the ground, probing, probing, probing. Tail, woodpecker-stiff, braced against the tree. Around and around, always up, nuthatch in reverse, a corkscrew search for food.”

 

Campbell Flat, Norwich, Vermont, October 2020

 

Because they do not migrate, they can be found in this area year around. But they are rarely seen and even more rarely photographed.  Perhaps that is why I like them — it is a challenge to get a good photo of this fast-moving bird that hops up trees, both feet at the same time.

Here are six photos from Boston Lot in Lebanon, NH.

 

Below are a pair of Brown Creeper photos taken in the King Bird Sanctuary at the Hayes Farm Park in Etna, NH.

 

Here are seven photos from Monhegan Island taken two different days during a wonderful visit with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.

 

Look for them, particularly in densely wooded habitats. They are a joy to observe.

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