There was one afternoon in April that was rather astonishing. B and I were taking a leisurely walk along North Creek behind the ballfields, and we heard a woodpecker. Next thing we knew, the trees were full of them. A veritable cloud of woodpeckers seemed to fly by and select individual trees. They took me by surprise, and I wasn’t able to photograph them all. But one landed close to us, and didn’t mind my antics, so I have that lovely little one, with video even!
I wish my brain could film what I see and download it direct to the computer, because none of these images of a single little woodpecker will live up to seeing so many swoop by. Still. Isn’t it wonderful?
I don’t recall having many woodpeckers in Arizona. I think I saw one maybe once or twice. They were rather exotic to me, and of course my understanding of them was filtered through Woody Woodpecker cartoons. Now that I’m here in Washington, I see quite a few different ones, and they’re all wonderful, and none of them have that bloody silly laugh.
I’ve learned to listen for a rapid rata-ta-tat on tree trunks when I’m in the forest. But it hadn’t occurred to me to listen for it along the most populated part of North Creek! I’ve seen woodpeckers along the proper wetland portion, but this is just a narrow strip of water and greenery between commercial buildings and busy ballfields. It seems many of our native birds have adapted just fine to the presence of humans, and are happy to feast wherever, whenever, no matter who’s about.
Still, I don’t often catch woodpeckers along this portion. I’ve tried coming back around the same time of day, but no luck. I suppose they have habits I could suss out if I spent more time there.
Here’s our little darling figuring out what I’m up to before deciding I wasn’t likely to spoil its dinner, and then showing us why those trees have all those holes in their bark. Enjoy!
P.S. The title’s merely a play on Charlie Brown. These aren’t actually red-headed woodpeckers. I mean, they’re redheads, but not that kind. I wouldn’t give it away like that!
I’m going to go with Red-breasted Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus ruber.
I’d say you’ve nailed it, LD.
Yep, agreed! Very pretty. Well done, Dana, on capturing the beaut, and well done, Sapsucker, for posing so well and patiently!
I wondered about the sap sucker. It looked like that was what it was doing. I know that the woodpeckers and sap suckers are closely related and I suspect that both eat both kinds of food.
Those are some lovely photos, Dana. I have taken, once in a blue moon, photos I call “accidental art” because they are gorgeous photos but I can’t claim I did it on purpose. You seem to create photos that are art on a regular basis, with subjects that are very difficult to photograph. I envy. I envy.
I have to disagree with you about the woodpeckers here in Az (I’ve moved back home!!!). We’ve got downy (and less common hairy) wood peckers, hairy woodpeckers, gila woodpeckers, red-shafted and gold shafted flickers, and that’s just in Southern Az.
if you go north into the white mountains, you’ll see many more.