For those who saw my black and white posting referring to a superstitious bird (knocking on wood, of course) linked below, I thought I would share a photo of the actual culprit, the pileated woodpecker himself. He was on a huge and very old maple that is one of my favourite trees, behind our house. This bird is doing his best to bring it down single handed beaked.
Beautiful photo +Ellie Kennard! The woodpeckers like to get atop the metal cover of my fireplace to call for mates. It sounds like a jackhammer in my living room!
Terrific, thanks! Good afternoon, from a cloudy UK:)
Thanks +Ellie Kennard, I'll have to have a closer look next time I see one!
+Childa Santrucek Perhaps not quite so much damage as quickly as an elephant, but certainly a lot, thanks a lot, Childa.
+Linda Villers – it could well be the same species. It is found over on that side of the continent, as well as here.
Thanks so much Sumit! High praise indeed. +Sumit Sen
+phaga tasoon thank you
+Shelly Gunderson thanks a lot, Shelly.
nice shot
He's quite beautiful!
+Linda Villers he is, isn't he, in an big kind of way? At almost 2 feet long, he's a pretty hefty guy.
Super picture
Great photo +Ellie Kennard they look as if they do as much damage to trees there as Elephants do in this country!!
Beautiful bird and shot!
What a beauty +Ellie Kennard! We have several types of woodpeckers around here similar to this one.
I will tag you in when I post it! +Ellie Kennard
+Dylan Johnson thank you so much.
+Ursula Klepper thanks a lot. He's about 45+ cm long, so he's a big boy (or girl). We have really small ones here too, much prettier but not nearly so impressive and destructive.
Let me know when you post them, Ursula, please.
Fantastic capture!
He is such a great looking guy! (Or lady) this is a really neat shot Ellie! We also have woodpeckers here (looking a bit different then yours) and they come to our bird food. I also took some shots but haven't yet posted (even processed) :>)
+Ellie Kennard +Liz C AND I'll just stop my commenting here – don't want to get carried away on Ellie's thread!!! LOL 😛
Tee hee! 😉
+Rob Patterson
There you go, +Liz C​​
Free rein to do what you want! With Rob at least. 😉
+Liz C 😉
Oh my, dear +Rob Patterson I'll remember that 😉
+Ellie Kennard I never object to anything +Liz C wants to do!! (Ooops, I think maybe that came out wrong!! LOL). 😀
Thanks a lot, +Stephen MacIntosh I was really pleased to find him sitting pretty so close to the house and though we had been having a conversation right under where he was before we looked for him, he didn't seem in any hurry to leave, giving me time to get my camera and change to my 70-300 mm lens.
Wow, you certainly got a great image of this bird, +Ellie Kennard . I've never been able to get any kind of shot of these. Bravo! my friend.
Go for it, Liz, unless Rob objects.
Oh dear +Rob Patterson and dear +Ellie Kennard, may I create a diptych with your two images? Unless one of you would prefer to do so 🙂
They are, +Rob Patterson and though I have had one on my feeder occasionally, it is much better for me to get a photo of one in the natural habitat, tearing a tree to shreds, even if it is one of my favourites. Thanks, Rob.
+Ellie Kennard Aha!!! And now I've found yours!! LOL Thanks, +Liz C, for the tip!! They are super fun to see in person, too. They are so powerful in the way they attack trees to find grubs and insects. They rip whole chunks of tree off when they do! 😀
Fantastic shot Ellie. Really shows the beauty of the bird. Also love all the texture in the tree.
Thanks Linda. They really are powerful to see when they tear at a tree. And the tree has great texture, you are right.
Hah! You are right, +Liz C​
I just checked out Rob's photo too!
Thanks, Liz.
+Stephen Thackeray thanks, Stephen!
Ph my goodness! I've never seen, and now I've seen 2 in my stream in 24 hours!
Lovely! Check out another Canadian sighting +Rob Patterson!
🙂
Super shot!
I think he had spotted me and was plotting his escape (camera shy maybe?). He made his way up the tree beyond where I could get a decent photo of him after this. Thanks, Bill +William McLean
Thank you very much, Donna
+Donna McClure
Well caught. Seems to be giving serous consideration to the next cut! Though maybe just a poser for the photography😉
Thanks a lot, +Bill Millier
Wonderful image +Ellie Kennard
Fantastic shot +Ellie Kennard​