Friday, January 27, 2012

The visitor outside my window ... a pileated woodpecker

We don't often see the pileated woodpeckers in the yard but, rather, along the trees on the fence line. This one was outside my window.  They are the largest woodpeckers in the U.S., about the size of a crow.

During the warm summer months, these fellas are loud as they call from the trees in what has been described as a wild laughing sound. From this angle, this one looks like a female (black stripe from bill to throat) but the last photo looks as if the stripe is red which would indicate a male.

 It stayed long enough for me to get a few shots but I was afraid to move closer to the window for fear of scaring it off so the images are not as sharp as I'd like.

An unexpected visit on a mild January day....

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
27 January 2012

2 comments:

Bob K. said...

These are beautiful woodpeckers. Nice photos!

Lynn R. Mitchell said...

Thanks, Bob. Would have been nice if the photos had been a little clearer but I didn't want to scare off the woodpecker before I got *something* on my camera. It really was beautiful and a treat to observe at such close proximity....