Black-backed Woodpecker nest w chicks

[Charles Duncan]

I want to share that Laura and I saw and heard a pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers at Nesowdnehunk Lake Wilderness Campground, just outside Baxter SP, yesterday. We heard nestlings inside a tree hole, and today, both adults entered the nest hole.

In other words, they are perhaps chase-able for the next few days for anyone keen enough to make the effort. (In my experience, once the chicks have left the nest, they and the adults leave the immediate area.)

The Wilderness Camp is not an easy place to get to, and not to be confused with Nesowdnehunk Field Campground within Baxter SP. It is about an hour-and-a-half north of Millinocket on gravel roads. But if you do come, we’ve seen and heard the woodpeckers in a small cluster of 8 or 10 tall spruces, just across from the generator building and right around a small outhouse.
 Campground

Nesowdnehunk Lake Wilderness Camp has cabins, RV sites and a few tent platforms. If you haven’t been here before, you should know that cell coverage is zero, electricity (and running water) is only part of the day and the cabins don’t have functioning bathrooms—hence the outhouse visit. PM if you have questions.