Tilting his head waaaaay back, this Pileated Woodpecker was having a good look at the sky before checking out his level.
Look up…
Look left…
…and right…
He flew to a nearby tree, spottable mostly because of his red-top.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
November 16, 2023
I’ve seen and heard Pileated Woodpeckers near this spot at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens many times. Last week I got a photo op of not just one,
but two, at the side of the exit road as I was headed to my car.
The youngster ducked into hiding while the adult worked his way around this oft trimmed tree.
Finally they came back together, with junior getting a taste of whatever the parent was finding.
June 15, 2023
There were two Pileated Woodpeckers in a Live Oak tree above my head, picking through the Spanish Moss and Resurrection Fern. The vegetation looks lovely in the tree, but sure limits photography of birds.
I never saw what they were eating but it appeared to be berries or nuts, and no pecking was going on.
It is likely this was an adult teaching a juvenile as a few times the younger looking one was just watching then got fed.
One came out into the open just before they flew off.
July 23, 2021
Swiss Cheese, anyone?
For probably not the first time this Pileated Woodpecker did the rounds of this well pecked tree.
Checking out the existing holes…
…giving it a few new knocks…
…and having a general look around.
June 9, 2021
I heard a number of woodpeckers as I wandered along the boardwalk though the Bald Cypress forest at Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
The only one I spotted for more than a second was this Pileated Woodpecker who was in view for less then a minute.
I do love that flash of red.
Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
January 2, 2020
Not far from where I saw a Pileated Woodpecker wreaking havoc on the boardwalk to the swamp last week I heard the impressive tat-tat-tat again. This youngster was frozen in place in a nearby tree and clearly not the origin of the percussion.
He flew a little higher just as I spotted the adult again assaulting the underside of the boardwalk railing.
The adult flew up to the fledgling and started feeding him some regurgitated material.
The chick stuck to his spot and the adult flew off and returned several times, daintily offering the juvenile food.
The feeding process was very calm, especially compared to the egrets and herons I had just been watching.
I still get excited when I see a Pileated Woodpecker and to have one land on the boardwalk railing was a treat. They look pre-historic and check out those feet!
I’d guess he’d been to this spot before as he wasted no time dropping down over the edge.
He bobbed up and down, gave just a few pecks on the wood, and was eating something.
I have seen Carpenter Bees flying and hovering around this area for weeks. The substance the Pileated Woodpecker was eating wasn’t distinctive, but may have been bee eggs laid in the wood.
I forgot about looking over the edge after the woodpecker left for what would be a perfectly round hole made by the Carpenter Bee when a bright yellow bird zipped along in the other direction.
Without any fuss this Pileated Woodpecker flew into a tree above my head as a few folks were gathered to watch the Great Blue Herons nesting. His “do” would suggest he might be shocked, too.
Photographing birds over your head is not the ideal situation and perhaps not the best view of the bird but this angle shows off his impressive beak.
He didn’t do any drilling or even poke around the tree, just sat there for about five minutes. The few tourists passing underneath him didn’t capture his attention. There were a few Red Shouldered Hawks patrolling the area behind us and maybe he was hiding. He left as quick as he came with no noise, back the way he had come.
