Pileated Woodpeecker sighting!

[dantesspirit]

Sat afternoon, hanging out on the trees just the other side of the fence.

This is only the 3rd time I've spotted this bird, let alone got clear enough photos to positively identify them, here at Five Oaks.

Next to the Red Headed Woodpecker and the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, these are the hardest Woodpeckers to get photos of here. I swear they know when you're trying to get a photo of them. Heh.

Comments

Re: Wow!

[dantesspirit]

This was the Habitat Oak, as we called it for the birds and the Five Line Skinks that lived on/in it, about 2 years before it fell- (It was a Red Oak)



Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), when it fell, it fell into the hayfield, and we didn't have the equipment to haul the trunk back onto our property. Neighbors came and cut the branches off for firewood and the farmer that gets hay off the field had to use his tractor to lift the trunk and move it.

1.5 to 2 years ago now, Castor and Pollux fell, within 6 months of each other. (They were Eastern White Pines. Thankfully there's seedlings that we can watch grow to replace them.)



Pollux, on the right, fell first. He fell into the brushy/wooded area, and didn't need any trimming, so has been left to decay in place, becoming a refuge for wildlife and birds. Castor on the left, fell 6 months later, and had to be trimmed back, so the little Deodar Cedar has room to grow and we can get into the pet cemetery area to the left. Otherwise, trunk wise and upper branches, as well as behind, has all been left in place. Anything we cut off was tossed on/into the remains, creating a deadfall refuge.

This was right before Castor fell-

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbk6MT5pLZW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

It still looks odd back there now.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClCdBT_JIEe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Re: Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>This was the Habitat Oak, as we called it for the birds and the Five Line Skinks that lived on/in it,<<

Skinks are so adorable. :D

>>It still looks odd back there now.<<

Every time a big tree falls here, it takes a while to get used to the changed canopy. And I have all the layers of a rainforest: emergent trees (sycamore), canopy trees (mostly walnuts and hackberries), understory trees (mostly mulberries), shrubs (privet, Canadian hemlock, forsythia, etc.), vine (wild grapes!), herbaceous (woodland and prairie plants), ground covers (wild strawberry, lawn, etc.), and roots (sunchoke).