Saturday, December 13, 2008

fauna in the yard

A pileated woodpecker just landed on my dying American elm looking for lunch. It is rare for us to see them down from the deep woods this time of year. Normally we only see them in early spring. However, over the last few years, strip mining and mountain top removal has deforested most of the nearby mountains -- not as much deep woods are left in this area. Unfortunately, for me, by the time I got my camera and got the front door open, Mr. Woodpecker decided to fly across the holler to the opposite hillside looking for better eating.




Here's an image of a pileated woodpecker from Associated Press used by FoxNews.com

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lucky you - such an amazing bird. I was fortunate to glimpse one several times when I lived in the foothills, but none since moving here 3 years ago. This is still their range, though, so I might see another one.

storyteller said...

What a beautiful bird. I'm glad you found the photo to share here since you couldn't get your camera in time to snap one of your own. How amazingly RED the head feathers are!
Hugs and blessings,