A rare one (for us)

Here are some pics of the Pileated Woodpecker. We saw this guy last year on our trip to Willow Beach. We were driving along a country road and pulled over to sit and watch. I could hear a very distinct, very loud "knock, knock, knock". Looking up, we were able to see the Pileated WP working away. It's unbelievable how much power is in the beak. She was just drumming away and didn't seem bothered by our presence.




The other pic (so blurry- apologies!) are also from WB when we went in Sept in 07. Dave and the dogs were up early and went for a walk. Dave didn't realize (and I probably didn't articulate it well) that I was going to be joining them, so by the time I got up, dressed and outside, the rest of the Brink crew was no where to be seen. Problem-solving at my best, I decided to stand around and wait. Since I was being so quiet and it was pretty early, this guy just flew down to the felled tree and started working away. I didn't want to move too much and I think since the camera was already on zoom, I didn't want to fiddle with it and scare off the bird. So the pic quality is not it's best.


Anyway, we hope to see them again this year. It would actually be quite a treat to see them closer to home. We think it's possible they may be in the conservation area valley close to our home, but we haven't had any sightings. We'll see what happens.