Pileated Woodpecker - Female

I finally got my close encounter with a resident Pileated Woodpecker in my neck of the woods. I was watching Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers work some trees when this gal silently flew in to inspect this tree. Lucky for me I saw her sneak into a cavity, so then I waited for her to come out and here is the shot!

The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens.

The Original Fauxhawk

Pileated Woodpecker (Male)

Grundy County, March 22, 2010

This male is preparing his nesting cavity for this springs clutch (3-8 eggs). Pileated Woodpeckers, the largest of North America, choose their mates for life, are non-migratory and both incubate eggs. I love these guys! So handsome...



(Click on photo to enlarge!)

First Sightings in Florida

Our trip was AMAZING! We saw so many wonderful things, and I have so much to blog about, so I thought I would start with each day in order and what we saw on that day:

Upon arrival into Fort Myers at sometime around 2 in the afternoon on Monday, we headed for the hotel in Bonita Springs to drop off luggage and start exploring. Our first stop was Ding Darling because the anticipation of finding every wader you can think of here was overwhelming. Near the entrance, we spotted an Osprey on a tall snag. Now, that's a pretty good start to our short afternoon jaunt!










We then pay our entrance fee and follow the road at a crawl, not wanting to miss a single thing. We see that we are surrounded in mangroves and are at the edge of our seats waiting for the next sighting. A few miles later, we start to think that we came at the wrong time. We were not seeing anything, which was shocking, because everything I have read and saw in pictures proved that this place was going to be a wonderland. We kept going and finally saw this juvy Yellow-crowned Night Heron just a few feet from the car. (Things were looking better we thought...)









We rounded a curve, pulled over to look at our first Tri-colored Heron fly over and noticed a Raccoon cross the road...










After that stop, we see a small bird roosting on a wire and took a closer look. It was our first Loggerhead Shrike but not our last. (We saw many on wires in the coming days.)









Next, we spot a Pileated Woodpecker up high and stopped for some shots. They make them much larger in Florida, than in Illinois. It was a really cool sight, since our heron sightings were almost zero for the day.








We left Ding Darling as our road came to an end, and headed toward Cape Coral since the day had a few more hours of sunlight and our thirst for nature wasn't quenched. The city is known for its Burrowing Owl population and I had a map of burrow locations. I was VERY excited! Adding to my Life Owl List was one of the attractions for choosing this area to vacation.
We get to Cape Coral, pay $2 to cross a bridge, and begin our journey in search of the tiny owls. We look for wooden "T" pickets (The pickets serve 2 purposes. It provides a roost for the owls, and marks the burrow so that people don't step on them.) in yards and start to see a few. The day is almost at a close and the clouds start to take over the sky, but we didn't care so much, as we just wanted to spot a few and save the cameras for a better sky on another day. We spot our first occupants:



They were so small! What we didn't see until further inspection was another one was on the ground. So there are 3 of them in this photo! We spotted a few more along some neighborhood streets, but this was our only one with multiple owls. We marked our locations on the map and planned for another day. We couldn't wait to get back!

Even though our first day was a bust photographically, we just hoped for good weather so that we could do it all over again tomorrow! And the tomorrow we hoped for arrived and what a day it was! Tune in tomorrow for the "real" start to our vacation!

NOTE: Getting to any place in SW Florida it seems, could cost you a small fortune. The state nickels and dimes you for everything. Crossing a bridge, for instance can cost you $2 to $6 as I have found. Parking at a public beach usually cost $2 an hour, or $8 for the day. I spent alot of time at various places and crossed many bridges. I also went to several beaches, parked, payed, and left a few minutes later, either because I didn't like the beach or got rained out, BUT... I did enjoy every minute there and would go back if the opportunity arose in a heartbeat! (Although my wallet protests!)

Pileated Woodpecker

A few weeks ago, I heard a few Pileated Woodpeckers communicate to eachother and fly across the river. I sat there, waited, and then they flew back across and landed pretty close to me. It is fascinating to watch these giant birds fly. I put together this first shot to show the flight. This flight style is typical of all woodpeckers.



He chose a tree pretty close, which is pretty unusual for these elusive birds, since I was out in the open.










Then chose the next tree that happened to be saturated in sun and backlit from my perspective.





These photos are not my finest. I talked about my lens being sick, so most of these were hurriedly manual focus.

Ninja Birder

What a pleasant surprise when I was shooting the feeder friends on the post a few days ago, that I heard the call of the Pileated Woodpecker. Of course, I had to go investigate. So, I sneak towards the sound as quietly as I can, but the snow crunching gave my location away. It flushed, but I watched it closely and saw where it landed. I squeak along again, and flush it again. This time, as my frustration peaks, I stood in place. It took another 10 minutes and the tapping on wood suddenly sounded thru the woods. My ears chose a direction and I ninja-ed my way closer. I finally see it thru some heavy limbs, so I took some shots:




I ninja-ed some more but the peckerwood saw me and vanished! Oh well, I got proof I saw him, which was only the second time I have ever photographed one. So all in all, the day was a success even though the shots were not!

Note: Peckerwood is slang for "poor southern white folks". I used this term loosely as I just wanted a reason to cuss out my frustration.

Ha-Ha-Haha-Ha.....Ha-a-a-a-a-a!

Guess what? Something extremely exciting happened to me yesterday! I was minding my own business, driving along a country road looking for bucks in a particular old growth forest I don't routinely drive down, when all of a sudden, I heard some loud woodpecker drilling. My first thought was Pileated...Who doesn't automatically wish for a Pileated Woodpecker when you hear drilling? Wouldn't it be cool if I finally found my nemesis bird? ( I have yet to see one, let alone photograph one. These woodpeckers are not common in Illinois, and even more scarce in the northern parts.) Anyhoo...I listened for awhile, and heard a call...then a drill...then a call again. It wasn't exactly like a flicker, but similar. It was deeper, and slower, and just...well...different. I had an eerie feeling... Then..all of a sudden I saw some movement in a distant tree. I looked thru my lens and saw THE red crest. Oh. My. God! The rush of endorphins raced thru me...I had to get a shot! I focused in...waited for the head to appear...[click]...waited for the body to move out of cover...[click]...He flew off...He flew closer! [click][click] He flew off and out of view with a call...to his...(wait for it)... mate! ...She calls back!...They both call to eachother and land on nearby trees! Where are they? Oooh... I see one [click]. It flies to a tree behind me. I twist and contort to shoot out the back side window, but he hides on the other side of the tree. I wait with my strain, but its absolutely worth it... I wait some more...He pops to the front of the tree [click]. I shoot some more, hear a call, then in a flash he is gone. The forest goes quiet except for the lil woodpeckers which seem to be everywhere. I spend my next hour or so shooting every kind of woody I can think of. Mr & Mrs. Woody Woodpecker never did come back, but you can bet that I will spend lots of quality time in this Woodpecker Wonderland!



(I found out later upon further inspection that this guy I keep referring to is a gal. Sorry Mrs. W.)

Interesting Facts: Nearly as large as a crow, the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in most of North America. Its loud ringing calls and huge, rectangular excavations in dead trees announce its presence in forests across the continent.










The Pileated Woodpecker digs characteristically rectangular holes in trees to find ants. These excavations can be so broad and deep that they can cause small trees to break in half.










A Pileated Woodpecker pair stays together on its territory all year round. It will defend the territory in all seasons, but will tolerate floaters during the winter.










Sexes similar, male has red crown and forehead and red in black mustache stripe. Female has gray to yellow-brown forehead and no red in mustache stripe.










Pileated Woodpecker populations declined greatly with the clearing of the eastern forests. The species rebounded in the middle 20th century, and has been increasing slowly but steadily in most of its range. Only in Arkansas do numbers seem to be going down.

Source: All About Birds