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| Look up for the bright patch of red... |
We are very happy to have a large section of woodland on
our new property, and we have already had some exciting visitors. Twice we have spotted a male pileated woodpecker in our trees looking for a snack. Of course the first sign is never by sight, but a loud thumping sound...
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| As he flies away, you can see his dramatic white under wings. |
Have you seen any unusual wildlife in your garden during these cold winter months?
I hope you are staying warm while we wait for spring!
~Julie
Great capture! My husband spotted the pileated woodpecker once in our woods but it hasn't returned for me to see it. In the meanwhile we have as daily visitors two red-bellied woodpeckers and a couple downy woodies. We also spotted and captured for the first time some close-up shots on the hawks that live near by. The family has been identified as the red-sholder hawk. Yesterday I saw their nest. In a tall tree right above the roof of my next-door neighbor! Very close..It is good that they eat mice and squirrel but it is bad that they also eat small song birds
ReplyDeleteHow fun to have found a hawks nest! Lets hope their taste preference is for rodents. :)
Delete~Julie
Good capture -- they tend to elude my camera. The call they make as they fly from tree to tree gives them away, kind of like 'Pock, pock." Do you have a birdbath? When they visit they look like small turkeys in the bath.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jean! We do not have a heated birdbath for winter, just one for the summer. I bet they are quite something to see at one!
Delete~Julie
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThe Great Spotted Woodpecker is often an indicator of a diseased tree.
We shot some trees. And we left some trunk in place .. They abrittent insects and peak comes to snack réguilièrement.
Beautiful place to make beautiful garden projects.
Thanks Francoise! You are very right. Many of our trees are old and beginning to decline. One of our summer projects will be planting some babies to take over in the future. We may have quite the stumpery in another ten years.... which definitely have their own beauty.
Delete~Julie
Beautiful picture of the woodpecker, it is difficult to photograph them. We also had some unusual birds in our garden in Western Europe. As our winters are becoming milder and milder, we had ring-necked parakeets in the garden. We see them more and more because they can survive winters now. It is funny, but strange to see such exotic colored birds in the wild in our area.
ReplyDeleteHow amazing! That would be a sight!
Delete~Julie
The woodpecker here thought our shutters would make a good winter hideaway, you can imagine the noise and the damage! A very expensive visit.
ReplyDeleteUgh! Tough to coexist with wildlife sometimes.
Delete~Julie
You can tell spring has arrived when you hear the woodpeckers drumming on the trees.We have one similar to yours, Great Spotted Woodpecker, which is black,white and red, they come every morning for their breakfast of peanuts!
ReplyDeleteI did not realized they loved peanuts! We should try it. Thanks Pauline!
Delete~Julie
How exciting! It is awe-inspiring to see such big birds in our gardens! We don't often see our pileated but hear him most days.
ReplyDeleteJulie we had a pileated recently visiting. They are amazing.
ReplyDelete