I have been after a shot of this guy for it seems like years. He’s there, at the top of our power pole, most mornings, making that sound. Wakes me up. No idea what he could still be eating up there. You’d think the pole would be chewed down to nothing after all this time. If it’s carpenter ants he’s after, I’d happily wake up even earlier and invite him closer to feast on the swarm of those damn ants that are eating my house!
As much as I miss my flowering plum trees that hid part of the pole and where this beautiful guy used to hide between drummings, I am glad to be able to finally see him.
Ahh, for a better telephoto shot!
Check out the sounds at this link. My “Pileated alarm clock” is one of the very last sounds listed.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds
That’s a wonderful big woodpecker! I know we have them too and I have seen them a couple of times, but usually, I just hear them, tapping away.
He does seem really big. My neighbor has this one beautiful apple tree with bright red apples (our other shared 30 or so apple trees are yellows and greens). My hope has been to catch that Woodpecker in that apple tree as a kind of “Where’s Waldo?” picture for my grandsons. He blends right in and you have to visually search for him. It could be a cool shot. Another quest…
That is a nice way to get woken up. Trust me, I get woken by an Ass-Hat who insists on parking across from his house right in front of my bedroom window. It should be stated I’m not a morning person, but he comes out at 6.18 to warm his engine. He has a V8, and his car is neither Vintage or a Classic! Nor are we in the 70’s! He returns 5 minutes later to repeat the process. Then another 5 minutes later before finically driving off. There is no God!
Perseverance ….. and you captured him with his little red head. I love the last one where he is turning his head as if something caught his attention. A moment of distraction from the programmed tap, tap , tap.
Apparently the woodpecker’s brain is incased in a kind of floating cushion that protects it from the incessant tapping that would otherwise cause brain damage.