Pileated Woodpecker!

An acquaintance from a bird group I belong to is a bird bander in the Washington, DC area. Last weekend he banded a Pileated Woodpecker and shared photos of the bird as he was holding it. I lamented to the group, once again, that I had never seen a Pileated. Another member of the group from the St Louis area told me about a sure-fire place to find one just 20 miles to the south of here.

I had business out of the office early this afternoon so I thought, what the heck, I'll just take the entire afternoon off and look for it after my meeting. It had been raining off and on all day, but I really wanted to see one to add to my life list so I took a chance.

I wandered around the park in the drizzling rain for about half an hour when I heard one and then saw it. I couldn't get a photograph because of the nasty weather and the fact that it was up high in the trees. Didn't care though ...... I had finally seen a Pileated Woodpecker!

I was happily driving out of the park when I looked over and saw it again. This time it was low on the tree trunk. I turned around, parked and grabbed my camera. He cooperated and I was able to get a couple of decent shots as he flew from tree to tree. What an awesome sight.




I can't wait to go back on a decent sunny day with my good camera.

Thank you, Angel!

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