On the Wing #77: Rat-a-Tat-Tat

The past few mornings this week I've been hearing the high-pitched clucks and kuks of the log cock or as it's more commonly referred to as the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). Pileated Woodpeckers are really something to behold. For one thing they are big! When you see a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) or even a Hairy (P. villosus) at the feeder, they looked pretty well proportioned for a woodpecker. Even Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) look fairly decent as well. But once you have a Pileated visit, you don't soon forget it!

Another pecker of the trees I've been noticing recently is the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). When I went out to take some photos yesterday evening, I saw a family of flickers dust bathing and anting in the parking lot. I'd never seen that before and while I tried to get closer, the whole group flushed as I made my approach. While the pictures were from far away, they still seem to capture the dedication these, like all birds, pay to their feathers.









Sorry for the delays to the posts during the week. I'll make more time in the evenings to write instead of waiting until the weekend to do so. I'm also working to start a bird book review in the next week or so to discuss some of my favorite (and not so favorite works) of birding lore. See you next week. ^^

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