A Splash of Color on a Dreary Day

It's late March, and while the morning started out with broken clouds and moderate temperatures, by mid-day the sky had gotten darker, the temperature colder, and it wasn't long before a heavy drizzling rain began to fall.  A stiff breeze blew from the east, and all in all, it was just what I would call "thoroughly miserable" outside.

Don't misunderstand me...I am absolutely thankful for the rain.  After last summer's drought, I will forever feel blessed to have days like today.  But it's the kind of day that makes you just want to curl up under a warm blanket with a good book, or snuggle down and take a nice nap.  I had taken the day off work, since school is out for spring break, but I couldn't really find anything that I wanted to do, so I spent most of the day doing nothing at all.  Every now and then I wandered into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, peering out at the gray skies and the rain.

I like looking out in our back yard, because, for whatever reason, it always seems to attract a variety of birds.  Among the birds I've seen in our yard are cardinals, blue jays, blue birds, nuthatches, titmice, crows, finches, sparrows, starlings, mockingbirds, chickadees, quail, mourning doves, thrushes, meadowlarks, and juncos.  I was amazed by the number of birds (and the red squirrel) that were out and about, even on a day like today!

But today, we had a special guest, sporting an interesting and unusual cap, splashed with red.  Our guest was a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus).

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, and most striking forest birds in North America.  I am just guessing, but I would say that this one was anywhere from 10" to 12" from the top of the red crest to the tip of the tail.  It was busy ripping bark off the stump of a dead pecan when I first saw it;  some of the bark pieces were tossed as far as 10' out into the yard!  As I watched, the bird worked its way down the row of trees, moving first to the mulberry tree, then on to this old red bud.  It worked its way around the trunk, tearing off bark, moving up and down the gnarled old tree before finally moving on to the next tree in the row.

Those old trees that seemed so attractive to the woodpecker may very well be one reason that the birds like our yard so much.  Most of the trees are at least 50 years old, and based on its diameter and a growth rate of about 1/8" per year, we estimate that the big oak in the front yard sprouted at around the time of the revolutionary war.

But I have plans to remove some of the older trees in our yard this spring, because they've become such a threat to the house.  One of the trees destined for removal is an old catalpa, which I've been told was planted in 1880 when the house was built.  Most of the tree has died, and I'm pretty sure the central portion of the tree is hollow.  I hope that the tree hasn't become the new home for this beautiful bird!  (Or for the red squirrel for that matter!)  What a tragedy that would be!  Now that I've seen this bird in the yard, I'll have to keep an eye out for it.  If it has moved into the catalpa, the tree man may have to come back another day.

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Update:  3/22/2013 4:50 p.m. The Pileated Woodpecker was back this afternoon, and really did a number on the base of the old pecan stump!

There were three other woodpeckers out in the yard this afternoon...one downy woodpecker, and two Northern Flickers (Yellow shaft subspecies).  Flickers are very attractive birds, dressed in their humble brown feathers, decorated with black spots, a large black bib, and a splash of red across the nape of the neck.

In researching the identification for these birds yesterday, I came across the great site by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and decided to submit my bird sightings to eBird.org, a joint effort by the lab and Audubon.  I have officially submitted two checklists now, one for yesterday's sighting of the woodpecker, and a list with 9 species observed this afternoon.  Pretty cool, if I do say so myself!