On a Brighter Note...

 

We're having more sunshine and it is most welcome.  Mostly afternoon and evening thunderstorms with more sun during the day.

 

We are really fortunate this year to have at least three pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers who come to our suet feeder with their fledglings.  We can identify one of the adults by his/her bald head.  Yes, bald head down to the neck.  So bald you cannot tell if it's a male or female.  So we see this weird bird feeding a chick.  Yesterday we noticed a red line at the top of its head so we hope the feathers are growing back.  We have another pair who had two fledglings and sometimes we see all four of them in the trees at once.  The third pair had only one fledgling.

 

We can tell when the birds have hatched by the feeding frenzy with the parents grabbing large amounts of suet and rapidly flying off into the deep woods.  Later, we can see the fledglings down in the woods as the parents feed them.  As time passes, the parents bring the fledglings closer and closer to the deck.  There is a tree quite near the suet and this is the usual feeding place.  The parent will eat and then will fly to the tree to feed the youngster.

 

This little one waits for his lunch.

He preens his gorgeous feathers while he waits.

 

 

 

Camera at the ready, I stood silently watching, waiting to capture the moment of feeding.  Wouldn't you know?  The silly little bird scrambled toward the back of the tree and all I got was the parent's back, leaning down to feed.

 

Curses!  Foiled again.

No matter how often we see these wonderful birds, we always stop and look.  And listen to their jungle-like cries in the woods.

And so life is good.  It's always better in the mountains.  Closer to reality than Raleigh.