(This post is a combination of a couple of past posts)
With the appearance of fall conditions and the resulting loss of leaves on the trees, I have found a new “Life” bird … the Brown Creeper (Certhia americana). According to my birding field guides, this bird is commonly found in my area (west-central Missouri) as part of their wintering range. I discovered this little gem in the fall, while kayaking. If the leaves hadn’t fallen off the trees, I doubt if I would have seen this little guy! As it was, I spotted him as he “creeped” up a tree in front of me. He is so camouflaged against the tree trunk, that one can easily be overlooked!
As an example of his amazing camouflage, on another outing I spent some quality time in the woods of one of my neighbors. I had photographed woodland wildflowers in this area a couple of times in the spring, but had never taken my telephoto lenses there for wildlife. But I thought I’d check out this area for any wintering birds. My day ended with several neat finds, one of them being more Brown Creepers:
What, didn’t see the bird? Here, maybe this next image will help:
I ended up finding several of these little, camouflaged guys. Here is the same image, cropped a bit to make it bigger:
And here is another Brown Creeper I found in the woods:
I think you can see how this little bird is a master of camouflage! If you happen into the woods, the best way to spot this little guy is to watch for movement … they continuously creep up the tree trunk.