Pileated Woodpecker

[ellyssian]

Click the picture for some more on Flickr....

Almost Crossposted to naturesbeauty and me own journal... I changed the picture... so it is different here and there! =)

Comments

[whitecrow0.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's lovely. I also liked "Needleless".

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The tree in Needleless has been nekkid for about two years now... I'm amazed it hasn't started dropping limbs yet. I was stalking a hawk around the neighborhood when I caught a glimpse of the sky and the pitch pine and liked how it looked! =)

[whitecrow0.livejournal.com]

Is that what kind of tree it is? I'm sadly deficient in tree identification. I can recognize most oaks, maples, elms, and birches. I recognize the cedar trees that grow in Oklahoma. I know a few ornamentals, such as dogwood. Beyond that... nuh-uh.
I would like to learn.

I'm a bit better at identifying birds!

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I couldn't ID it now ~ when the needles were there, however, it was possible! =)

The pitch pine and the white pine are the two most common in the immediate area; the pitch pine has 2 needles per bunch, the white pine has 5. If I was really good, the bark and the cones would be enough to go by, but I still have a lot to learn.

I have even more trouble with the birds ~ even when I'm fairly confident, I tend to hold back on a positive ID. The pileated woodpecker is an easy one, on account of size & Woody Woodpecker head and call, but I'm very tentative at naming most of the ones I see. =)

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Pileated woodpeckers made me late for work one morning. A small family was apparently just passing through and were checking out the plum tree outside our kitchen window (this was when we lived on the farm ages ago). I'd never seen one before (and there were three) and haven't since.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

They are incredible to watch ~ especially on wing or at work. This one wasn't drilling today, though, and I missed the shot as he was flying.