And then there were two

Yesterday was my first official spring birding. Soon as I stepped out of my car in the woods, I heard a loud peculiar call. I saw a large, black bird landing on top of a tree. One positive thing about a late start to spring for us is the bare branches. Surely, green leaves are warming to the eyes, but bare branches allow clearer views of birds. Can you see it?

Soon I found that it wasn’t just a black bird. The red crown gave it away. A pileated woodpecker, my long lost friend! I’ve seen many woodpeckers in my neck of the woods, downy, hairy, northern flicker… but I haven’t seen, let alone photographed, a pileated woodpecker for many years.

It soon flew away, but not too far. I followed quietly, stepping over dead leaves, dry twigs and trunks to a more favourable vantage point. It landed on a large trunk on the ground, allowing me to get up close and personal.

Just as I was congratulating myself for the good fortune in my first spring outing of the year, I saw two. How rare it is to see two pileated woodpeckers together, for me anyway. This pair wasn’t afraid of nature paparazzi like myself, for I’m sure they must have known I was around. I was able to get a good pose, but still natural in situ.

Looks like a good birding year is in store for me.

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Arti

If she’s not birding by the Pond, Arti’s likely watching a movie, reading, or writing a review. Creator of Ripple Effects, bylines in Asian American Press, Vague Visages, Curator Magazine.

14 thoughts on “And then there were two”

    1. Looks like these are new inhabitants in the woods. I’ve never seen pileated woodpeckers here before. Next search will be owlets for this year.

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  5. How truly wonderful! You may or may not have seen my photo of the first Pileated Woodpecker I’ve ever seen. That you were able to see these pair together is just marvelous. They’re such handsome birds. I know other people in my area see them from time to time, so I’m hoping I’ll get another chance this year.

    I’m not sure about this, but I think you have a male and female. I vaguely remember someone mentioning that the red ‘cap’ extends all the way to the bill, while the female’s stops somewhat short of that. I’m not familiar enough with them to know if that’s so.

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    1. Thanks for drawing my attention to this… you’re absolutely right! These are male and female pileated woodpeckers. I did some quick Googling, the obvious difference is – looking at the picture with the pair – the one on the left has a red strip on his cheek, and the white strip from the face continues down to his neck. The right one is the female, which is without these two features.

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    1. Marcie, welcome to the Pond and leaving your ripples. Are you in Canada? Which part? Pileated woodpeckers are found mainly in forests. I’m in Calgary, Alberta.

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      1. Sudbury, we see a lot of creatures in the city that I’d thought of as uncommon while living elsewhere in Ontario. I can’t recall how I found my way here, maybe through Whispering Gums?

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        1. The magic of the blogosphere… you never know where you’ll land after taking off. Hope to hear from you again, Marcie. 🙂

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