Last week, petcretary got up early to go out with friends, but as always. first she looked out at who was hungry for the offerings at our buffett of various bird food...put out to attract various species according to their known likes...
She was glad her phone was in her hand at the time, because there was a HUGE woodpecker on the peanut feeder! First time ever that one took time to nosh there!
It was a pileated woodpecker. Not a rare bird, but uncommon, even in our semi rural area. Mostly petcretary has only spotted them in our backwoods area of the yard, or on walks in more remote areas. They are a bit smaller than an american Crow, a bit bigger than a common Grackle. A Hairy woodpecker is about 7-1/2 inches long, a Flicker is about 10-1/2 inches long. This species of woodpecker is 15 inches long!! Yup, HUGE!
They, along with other woodpeckers, have make large holes in some of the snags in the woodsy part of our yard. The tree peeps wanted to 'clean up' those snags, but I forbade it, since obviously if the tree falls down, it will only be a mess in the woods, not a danger to any structures now that the old shed is gone. Obviously that big snag of a half dead tree is great for foraging birds...why deprive them of that?
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| Us Pups hate these things and bark our heads off at them until they obey and fly away! |
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| I sent in a real whopper of a photo for Teaser Tuesday on September 10, 2024 and NOBODY GUESSED IT RIGHT! YAY FOR ME! |
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| I was HOT after chasing Rose along the fenceline! |
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| Not sure anymore, why I turned on my stink eye... |
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| We are in the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted each week by the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head. Come and join us, it's fun!! You might even make a new friend(s)! |
We have three types of woodpecker here and they mostly live in our wooded area. They do come daily to the bird feeders though. They seem to like our overlap fencing too as they will peck along the top. I assume there are bugs in it. Our largest variety is the green woodpecker which grows to 12-14 inches long so smaller than the pileated. It also has a red head, but a green body.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely woodpecker! Woodpeckers in the wild are so sensitive here that they would fly off at any sound.
ReplyDeleteDearest Ingrid,
ReplyDeleteGreat capture of the majestic pileated woodpecker. We have one on our property as well and I love their call, very special.
One of those hot air balloons once landed in our back yard!
Haha, the stink eye... but great photos.
Hugs,
Mariette + Kitties
We never see hot air balloons but we do see and hear the woodpeckers all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't seen any woodpeckers here - or Balloons, for that matter. But the pictures of YOU two are just great!
ReplyDeleteAwesome live action of that woodpecker. It is always good to leave something in the forest for nature to make use of. Well done you.
ReplyDeletePretty balloons, but I can see why they scare the pups, they do our horses.
Have a lovely selfie; and may that stink eye from Dalton be long forgotten.
ERin
Whoa, we almost thought you two were going to be left out of the post!
ReplyDeleteWe never see balloonist overhead; may have to attend a festival someday to enjoy that sight.
How lucky to have a pileated woodpecker at your feeder. We have them living around our house but they have never visited our feeders that we know of. We think your selfies are cute.
ReplyDeleteLooking totally furbulous dudes, and we loved the bird TV, it was EPIC!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe too have all of those woodpeckers but we have never managed to catch such great shots as your Peep did! Who knew they liked peanuts! Our Mom refuses to put up bird feeders in our yard. She always mumbles something about us cats thinking they are smorgasbords. And we loved all the photos of the balloons! Mom says she rode in one...we have never seen one here though and that Stink Eye is EPIC! Concatulations on the impossible guess too! Keep being awesome guys! Marvelous Marv, Kozmo, Jo Jo, Nutmeg and Mom Barb
ReplyDeleteWhoa...that's one impressive bird! Your Petcretary probably earned at least one Michelin star for the bird banquet. And what lovely pics of the air-ships that freak you guys out. They are quite colorful and pretty. Swell selfies, too. Well done!
ReplyDeleteCharlee: "Wow, that is one big bird! It kind of reminds me of our roadrunners, which is another bird that is a little too scary for us to want to catch ... Although we do stare at it."
ReplyDeleteWe occasionally get a woodpecker visiting our big tree, and they are fun to watch. About a week ago we had an OWL perched in our front yard tree. We watched it for about 30 minutes before it flew off. We hope it found some tasty dinner.
ReplyDeleteWOW that a woodpecker. I am glad Mum has the phone in her hand!!! ANNDD Those balloons. Love them to bits!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very big woodpecker. We have one in our area that is driving our dad nuts. He manages to do all his rat-a-tat on our chimney when our Dad is in his office and on the phone right where that chimney is located.
ReplyDeleteNice selfies of you two.
Woos - Misty and Timber
wow we are sure that is woody woodpecker frk the movie... we had no clue that they are such big birds... what a super moment to see him so close..
ReplyDeleteHi hi hi! Ojo here! So many things in your sky! I am glad you included your selfies, too - those are the best part!
ReplyDeleteOMC that's a big one, isn't it😸We had one in the front garden too, but he did look different from yours, and we asked him to come back soon😸😸You two look very cute today Dalton and Benji. Tell your mommy that we are very thankful for the advice to try Gimp. We hadn't have time to visit it yet, but will be soon😺😺Double Pawkisses for the both of you and your mommy too🐾😽💞
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