Pileated Woodpecker pics, that is! I got quite the thrill today as I drove down our street on my way home from town, and I didn’t have my camera with me. I wanted to kick myself! Right by the side of the road, impossible to miss, was a Pileated Woodpecker pecking away at a tree. He was HUGE! and GORGEOUS. Darn, why did I forget that camera? I drove home as fast as I could, unloaded the dogs from the car into the house, grabbed my camera and a fresh battery and drove back down to where he had been. Would he still be there? YES. The bird gods were with me today.

I’ve always thought of them as Woody Woodpeckers, since they inspired the cartoon character. [ You know: Heh-heh-heh-HEH-heh!” ] I knew we had Pileateds around but I had heard that people don’t actually see them very much as they are known to be shy birds. This one was not too shy since I just drove up next to the side of the road and put my window down. He didn’t budge. Too busy getting yummy bugs out of his new hole. You can see how he was twisting his head around to get just the right angle.

To give you an idea of how big he was [about the size of a small crow, around 17 inches tall] I took this photo of the tree he was on. You can see he’s been very busy drilling holes—it must be a favorite tree of his. In the photos above you can see his tail is covering the hole below while he pecks away at the one above. Now look at the photo below and you will get an idea of his size. The two highest holes on the left hand side of the tree is where he was. That kind of puts his size in perspective for you.

From now on my camera goes with me. Everywhere. No matter if it’s just a short, boring jaunt into town. Because you just never know what you might see.

To read more about Pileated Woodpeckers, follow this link.