pileated woodpecker
Photo by J. Harrington
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At the moment, there's a downy woodpecker at the back feeder and a pileated out front. Yesterday a red-bellied woodpecker showed up a few times. In addition to woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees enjoy feeding on suet, much more so than any of the finches. Soon, mating season drumming will start. The Better Half confirmed hearing a chickadee's "fee-bee" call the other day.
We continue to make belated progress sorting out our fly-fishing gear. The last fly-line was weighed this morning. We still have to work through matching lines and reels with various rods, but we're almost organized enough to start the season (catch and release only closes 4/13; regular season opens 4/14 in southeast Minnesota's Driftless Area).
ruffed grouse
Photo by J. Harrington
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Joining the drumming woodpeckers in the not too distant future will be ruffed grouse. We're sure there's an overlap between grouse drumming and turkey gobbling seasons, but we're not sure if either starts noticeably ahead of the other. We're a little too far south of good grouse habitat to be likely to confirm the drumming, but we can always hope the grouse will drift this way. We love just watching them. Brook trout and ruffed grouse are two comforting links between our home of origin and our adopted home.
Brooktrout
By Ted Hughes
The Brooktrout, superb as a matador,
Sways invisible there
In water empty as air.
The Brooktrout leaps, gorgeous as a jaguar,
But dropping back into swift glass
Resumes clear nothingness.
The numb-cold current's brain-wave is lightning -
No good shouting: 'Look!'
It vanished as it struck.
You can catch Brooktrout, a goggling gewgaw -
But never the flash God made
Drawing the river's blade.
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