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Pileated Woodpecker
Hard to see, but this big fellow (Pileated Woodpecker) was going to town on an old pine tree out back. Soon as I got close he jumped a few trees over. Biggest Woodpecker I ever saw. I haven't seen him in a while, since last year hitting the bird feeder.
I dunno if you can enlarge this photo on yer screen or not.
I dunno if you can enlarge this photo on yer screen or not.

It's only true if it's on this forum where opinions are facts and facts are opinions
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
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Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
― Douglas Adams
Wasn't a certain Woodrow woodpecker was it???
Big owls around here to, Barred I think. They carry on in the afternoons and at night. One swooped over my head once and I about jumped outta my sneakers it startled me so much, wasn't expecting it.
They say like in this link "Who Cooks For You? Who Cooks For You-All"
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/sounds
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
While I am not a "spiritual" type person, I sometimes wonder if these birds aren't directly connected with the "Spirit World". Example: I have a couple of buddies who are cultural anthropologists, and several years ago during an extended drought period, they inventoried artifacts off an Indian burial mound on an island in Orange Lake close to Gainesville, Florida. (Glass beads and European items mostly). They stopped to compare notes, sitting on a cypress log, when two Barred Owls flew down and alighted one on each side of my friends no more than 12-15 feet from them and started raising mortal hell with their loud callings.....raised mortal hell until one of my friends who had lived with the Seminoles on the south Florida reservation several years started speaking to the owls in the native Seminole/Creek language telling the owls what they were doing, and assuring them that no graves would be violated. The Owls hushed, looked at my friends turning their heads 180 degrees up and down, then flew off out of sight. Like I say....I'm not given to fantasy thinking, but something like this makes you wonder a little.....
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
I had one come to the tree I have my tree stand in. While up in the tree pecking for food I had a steady rain of tree bark come down. Enjoyed every second of it.
DPRMD
Alvin and his sidekick Freddie leap from the back porch metal roof to the feeder and bypass my squirrel guard and knock seeds to the ground for their buddies. I run them off all the time.
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
I will fear no evil: For I carry a .308 and not a .270
I could enlarge it on Photobucket, but then I had to go back to normal size to get the link to post on the forum.
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
I've had a few work around me while in my tree stand, and on those mornings with single digit temps the sounds are impressive. While the last one I saw was a few trees away, it still felt like his hammering was gonna knock my fillings loose...:tooth:
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
Got quite a few screech owls on the place, too. They hang out mostly along the creek at night. I've seen them take crayfish that crawl out of the water at the gravel banks along the creek. Them little fellers like to eat high off the hog, I reckon. Don't blame them, though; crayfish is good eats! And the creek is loaded with them.
Back on the woodpeckers, they hang out mostly around the pines here. Lots of pine borer beetles for them to make their money on in the pines. Finding a big pine tree that doesn't look like it has been shot from bottom to top with #2 shot is rare around here. Some kind of bug under the bark of the maple trees here attract them, too, especially in the spring. The two big maples left in my yard are woodpecker magnets in spring, and they bore deep enough that the trunks rain sap.
I leave dead timber standing on the ridge. The woodpeckers, especially the Pilaeted, make nesting holes in them. The holes the Pileated make are big enough for the owls to take over. And squirrels take over others, and the woodpeckers just make new ones, but away from the squirrels; squirrels will eat baby birds. There's one old dead oak up there that looks like a vertical condo; it's holes from ten feet off the ground to the top. There's a pair of owls hanging out in that tree, so the squirrels leave it alone. The owls might think the squirrel is like pizza delivery!
― Douglas Adams
They stop woodcutting and close down ranges/live fires in areas it inhabits during mating season! They also like pecking metal light poles/fixtures for some reason.
I can see where some folks wouldn't like them because they are/can be destructive to trees and houses.
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
What I believe is there's a lot more to things than we know. It is written that we don't understand. To say it's over our heads is the supreme Understatement. We get to thinking we're smart. That's always our downfall. Even though I think I've figured this out, I still am guilty of thinking I know so much. I don't really know squat in the grand scheme of things. I really think that most of us when it is push comes to shove are more spiritual than we think.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Got the Red Cockaded and Downy Woodpeckers here. They look similar as to plumage, but they are different in size. And plenty of Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, and Titmice.
Being in the woods in a treestand before daylight and having the woods come alive with first light is something to enjoy. The Chickadees and Titmice come out first, and then the Wrens. Fun to watch.
Hate the Bluejays, though. They are the anusholes of the bird world, IMO. They are the Liberals of the bird world. They will run off the other birds at a bird feeder, rake out all the seed on the ground rooting for the seeds they like, and make a mess wherever they go. And if you're hunting and they see you, they will follow you and announce to the world that you're there.
One hawk that is on the decline in my area is the Sparrowhawk, or American Kestrel. Used to see them all the time, but they are getting scarce. I miss seeing them hunting the pastures. Red Tailed Hawks are on the rise, but the little Sparrowhawk seems to be in decline. Lots of food and lots of nesting holes in trees for them here, but they are pretty much gone.
― Douglas Adams
Hey, Snake has some lucid moments on here...............after he puts the .270s away! :tooth:
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!