Hunt and peck, peck, peck!

We know it's been cold, very cold, when anything above zero feels tolerable. That's what this afternoon is like, although we haven't reached double digits yet. Thankfully, there's no wind to speak of so we didn't suffer too much as we refilled all the bird feeders.

pileated woodpecker at suet feeder

Photo by J. Harrington

Looking at several years worth of photographs, January seems like the month of the pileated woodpecker. In fact, as we pulled into the driveway today, after doing some errands, there was a pileated sitting on the blacktop at the side of the road. We've no idea what s/he was doing there. S/he ignored us as we checked for mail and only as we actually turned into the driveway did the bird fly away.

pileated excavations?

Photo by J. Harrington

There are a couple of trees on the property that show signs of pileated excavations. We haven't tried to watch to see who or what else uses them when a pileated isn't roosting or nesting there, nor are we sure whether pileated pairs create fresh excavations each year. There's so much we don't know about what goes on even in our very own front and back yards.

when the suet feeder's empty

Photo by J. Harrington

The Woodpecker Keeps Returning

By Jane Hirshfield

The woodpecker keeps returning

to drill the house wall.

Put a pie plate over one place, he chooses another.

There is nothing good to eat there:

he has found in the house

a resonant billboard to post his intentions,

his voluble strength as provider.

But where is the female he drums for? Where?

I ask this, who am myself the ruined siding,

the handsome red-capped bird, the missing mate.

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