I took my first-ever picture of a pileated woodpecker this afternoon …
in my backyard!
We’ve lived in this house 40+ years. I’ve only seen one other pileated in the yard, and that was 3 weeks ago.
Please excuse the quality of the pictures. They were taken through a double-pane, not-so-clean picture window.
Not to mention that the pileated was hungry and aggressively hunting for “supper.” They eat mainly carpenter ants and beetle larvae.
This sweet gum tree grows roughly 20 yards from the house. It’s health isn’t that good.
So, yes, I took these pictures from my computer chair.
The 3:30 p.m. sun was just right for the circumstances surrounding this experience.
It was aggressive in its hunting/drilling/chipping.
The pileated drilled all these holes during the 30 minutes I watched it. Not all show in the picture.
I’m hoping it returns often, now that it knows the sweet gum is a good food source.
naturesnippets 