Maybe things are getting better

[dreamshark]

Kilauea Volcano says HELLO for the solstice. Jupiter and Saturn kiss. And look what I saw out my kitchen window this morning!!

This is, of course, a Pileated Woodpecker. They used to be a rare and elusive bird, but in recent years people have been seeing them all over the Twin Cities, frequently in nesting pairs. But this is my first sighting. I've wanted to see one for 50 years, since  I was a camp counselor in 1969 in rural New Jersey. The old lady who ran the camp was an intense birder, and used to take us all on early-morning birding expeditions. It had been her lifelong goal to see a Pileated, and we were constantly instructed to keep an eye out for them, but we never saw one (as if you could miss them). Besides the flamboyant coloration, they are a foot-and-a-half tall! And noisy! 

Comments

[maruad]

What type of woodpecker is that? I don't think we get those up here.

[dreamshark]

It's a pileated woodpecker!! See ETA on original post for more.

[maruad]

That is huge. All we get are Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bellied_sapsucker

[pameladean]

WOW. And my mother -- who does at least live in a heavily wooded and somewhat preserved section of a suburb -- had a Red-Headed Woodpecker at her feeder for the first time in thirty years.

That looks like a big tree. Pileateds like those. But WOW. I am accustomed to having to go to Eloise Butler or somewhere like that to see one.

P.

[dreamshark]

It's the big silver maple across the alley from our house. It is a big tree. But after poking around on that tree for a couple of minutes, the bird then transferred its attention to the utility pole in the alley, which would seem like rather barren pickings. I guess it was, because I looked away for a few seconds and when I looked back it was gone. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled!

[arkuat]

Congratulations on your first sighting!

[laramie]

Wow! That's a good shot of the bird, too.

[dreamshark]

About as good as you can get with an old iPhone, which is not really optimized for bird watching.

[davidwilford]

Awesome! As you say, they're a sight to see.

[kaffy_r]

We weren't able to see Jupiter and Saturn kissing, and I'm probably glad I wasn't at all near Kilauea for its eruption, but I'd have been delighted to see the woodpecker. What a handsome bird! The bird I miss seeing around Chicago is the Blue Jay. Illinois' jay population was absolutely destroyed in the early days of West Nile; although our crow populations recovered, the jays never came back.