Feathered Friends

This morning Ken called to me (I was vacuuming the trailer, of all things . . . there is still housework in this lifestyle, but it doesn't take long). When I came outside he motioned high in the tree a pair of the biggest woodpeckers we've ever seen. Now we have oodles of woodpeckers in Coarsegold, but we've never seen a woodpecker here at all, so this appearance was strange, especially because they were so large. I quickly grabbed my camera and put the big lens on it to see how close I could get. Then I coughed and they instantly flew away. But I was able to get a few shots. I've got to look up in our Audobon bird book to see if I can figure out the name.

I've since learned from a reliable source, and confirmed the name with the Audobon Society, that these birds are "Pileated Woodpeckers." Thanks, Rick!

This is the only shot of the two of them. I think my presence scared away one of them.

This one wasn't afraid of me.

She immediately began to peck away at the bark, I suppose looking for food. Soon they were gone, and never more to be seen.

During Happy Hour, the hummers came to inform us that their feeder was empty. Their iridescent colors are unbelievable, especially when the light catches it right.

I had my camera handy because I wanted to get shots of us feeding the blue jays peanuts . . . that never happened, but I did get a few shots of the hummers. You've got to be fast at snapping pictures because the little guys move so darn fast!

I love it when they display their colors. There were a couple of them wrestling over who was going to get to the feeder first.

Life is good!