I Hear You Knocking

              but you can't come in

Saturday morning while I was having my coffee, I saw this bird fly up into the tree tops.  I knew it wasn't a crow, it was too graceful. I soon saw he was wearing a magnificent red hat and new I had a Pileated Woodpecker in my tree.  He was approximately 100 yards from the house and about 50' up in the tree.  I ran for my camera.

I was able to capture him sitting, preening, eating and just hanging out.  What a beauty.  Adults are 16 to 19 inches long and their wings measure 8 to 10 inches.  The bill on these birds range from 1.6 to 2.4 inches.  The males have a white line down the sides of the throat (this is obviously a male) and they show white on their wings when in flight.

When they drum the trees, it is a very, very loud sound.  I still don't know how these birds do not get a headache from the way they drum the trees.  I love to hear the sound, how fast they beat the trees and how often they dig for those bugs.

The woods are such a lovely place to live, not only the sights of so much wildlife around me but the sounds that are produced when you least expect it.  I'll definitely be watching and listening for his mate.






Barbie