a rare visit from the red crowned critter

For some time now we've been hearing off in the distance as well as nearby the call of a Pileated woodpecker. We've seen him on occasion, but not for the past year even though his distinctive call placed him at times only a 30 – 50 yards away.  Listen to his call

Yesterday though, near dusk while I sat on the lanai, he decided to make a rare appearance. Even rarer was that he flew to the ground about 15 yards away and poked around for awhile looking for insects. He was close enough and the available light was still good, but I didn't have my camera. I called to Karen to get it, I'm still pretty much immobile with the broken foot, but by the time she got there he had taken flight.

He flew to a nearby Black Jack oak tree further out, maybe 30 yards or so, and began hammering it in his quest for a meal. Bark was flying and he left a wide, white scar of wood where the bark had been and I arched around to try and get a picture. With his position over my shoulder, the light waning and trying to shoot over a saw palmetto and through the brush, the result was far less than stellar. After a bit he was off in flight again and I thought that would be all I'd see of him.

Shortly later though I hear this very distinctive looking bird hammering away again on the other side of the property. I figured he was up in the Southern pines somewhere but as I scanned the upper reaches of the trees I could see nothing. Well, that wasn't unusual since I'd been doing the same thing for over a year. Then, after giving up, I looked down and right on the edge of where I mow and where I leave things more natural, I saw this big, beautiful red-crested fella perched on the side of another Black Jack.

He was only 20 yards or so away but in the dimming light and shielded by the tree itself, the prospects of a decent photo with a hand held camera were slim at best. Well, that turned out to be the case as the photos accompanying this attest. Never the less, it was a lot of fun to see such a interesting bird close by and know that he still would visit us when he took a hankering to do so.