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PILEATED WOODPECKER - photo by Jonathan Schechter April 17, 2012
The pileated woodpecker is a true master of it's craft. Once seen, never forgotten. Many birders consider it the most striking forest bird on the continent. I tend to agree! It is black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest and has a drumming sound that resonates through the forests, be it the rare sighting in a protected woodland in my home area of Oakland County, Michigan, or on a forested mountainside near a steam in the Nantahala National Forest where I photographed this beauty (photo above) on the last day of my Wilderness EMT course! And when a pileated whacks away at a dead tree or fallen log in search of insects it is a primordial sound. The species tends to be shy around humans but last week ago while exploring Congaree National Park's Boardwalk Loop Trail in South Carolina with my little grand niece she got lucky and watched one blast away high on a trail side tree while she stood near the trunk. (photo below) There is no greater woodpecker!  |
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I will have to show this to my son. He is an avid birder-in-training at the age of 6 and the pileated woodpecker is high on his list of birds he wants to see. We heard one drumming away last summer on the West Bloomfield Nature Preserve trail by the great blue heron rookery/lookout and my aunt and uncle see them often at their home on the west side of the the state. We enjoy reading your column each Sunday morning and visiting new parks per your reviews.
ReplyDeleteMarie--thanks so much for your kind words. Hopefully your son will see a pileated sooner or later. They are more common north of Oakland County--and of course in the carolinas. My column takes us back to S.Carolina again this sunday---kind of a part 2 of Congaree.
ReplyDeletebest wishes,
Jonathan
Great pics!
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan, Just a little FYI . . .I (and others) were having trouble publishing unless we logged in. Using the "anonymous" setting under "Comment as", I could not post. This may be why the number of posts have been down.
ReplyDelete