The day started early, waking me with the supremely loud call of our resident Pileated Woodpecker. Or, I should say residents. Those of you who know me have heard me go on and on about these amazing birds and how much I love them. When we moved here almost four years ago, there was one. Next year there were two babies (so there must have been two to begin with :) Now there is a good sized family who makes the rounds between the Audubon barn and down river to us. Their call is like a loud, medium-high pitched song of several "w's" strung together, as if you were calling someone long ahead on the trail, or like the classic Native American call that kids make to imitate them in a pow-wow. And did I mention how loud it is?
So this morning there were three that I could see right in our trees. The biggest of the woodpeckers, and striking in looks - looks exactly like Woody Woodpecker from the cartoon. Two of them a team, sibling or a couple, were foraging tree trunks for goodies. They do quite literally a spiral dance. In perfect unison, they spiral at a mild angle upwards, using a sapsucker-signature sidestep move. Alternating with the sidestep is a side flap, where they fly in this tandem fashion just one upward loop of their spiral, decorating it with their whooping call, before clawing again. It's one of the coolest bird things to witness.
So the morning was blessed with this great event, and I managed to sneak outside with my camera and steal a photo. Not a great one, but with this creature who is very shy and also fast - it's a real win.
Below, you can see my new experiment. I've inserted several branches of cut pussy willows into a part-shade, fairly moist area behind the house. Rumor has it that willows root and grow if you do this, so we shall see if it works. The smell is so great, that birchy smell from the salicylin.
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