I heard the “tat tat tat” over my head and finally spotted a Downy Woodpecker on the underside of a branch just above me, industriously pecking away.
He spiraled around the limb, tatting as he went.
Finished inspecting that branch, he moved into a tree that has leafed out and quickly disappeared into the greenery.
Looking for something to eat in the crevices of this dead branch this Red-bellied Woodpecker kept trying, but I didn’t see him find anything.
Upside down didn’t work so he flipped upright.
He paused for a nice profile shot.
Scouting out his next spot, he was gone in a flash.
Click on any photo for larger view.
This Red-bellied Woodpecker was not the first to check out this dead tree. The trunk is full of holes and most of the limbs are gone.
He must not have found anything interesting as he quickly moved on.
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.
A Downy Woodpecker right out where you can see her! An advantage to winter is less viewing obstruction of the little birds as they go about their business.
This one wasn’t doing much pecking but investigated around this tree trunk.
She left me with a perfect profile shot, compete with lichen framing.
Click any photo for a larger view.
On a recent trip to Maine a  family of Hairy Woodpeckers entertained me as they investigated this tree. The tree wasn’t too healthy looking but the lack of full boughs and the lichen made for good woodpecker props.
I couldn’t resist photographing them even though the tree was very tall, the birds were in the higher reaches and I had left my long lens at home.
Click either photo for larger view.Â
I’ve watched a Red-bellied Woodpecker on this tree on several visits to this area. It is a neck-craning experience due to surrounding trees, but I can’t resist following the sound of the tap-tap-tapping.
The tree he is working on is dead and if you put your hand on the trunk you can feel the vibration as the woodpecker does his thing. I think nesting season is over and doesn’t appear to be finding food, but there must be something attracting him.
Not a great shot, but standing way back and peaking through the leaves there is a view of the large hole being worked on. He puts his entire top half in the hole to tap-tap-tap.
I could hear the Red-bellied Woodpecker around the swamp from the distinctive shrill call. Sound bouncing off the water can make the exact direction hard to pinpoint. Eventually the flash of red gave away his position.
This tree branch has a number of holes the woodpecker was exploring while a juvenile Little Blue Heron looked on.
Satisfied, the heron returned to sentry duty.
The Pileated Woodpecker is elusive, mostly traveling high in the tree tops resulting in partially obscured and too distant photographs. This one entertained me close up for about ten minutes.
I was afraid I would scare him off if I moved to get better shots so I took what I could from where I first spotted him.
After he flew off into the tree tops I waited, listening to him work on the trees. I was hoping he would repeat his path as birds sometimes do, but it wasn’t to be.
Edited 12/24/2017 to correct spelling of Pileated Woodpecker.
This pair of Downy Woodpeckers almost ran into me they were so intent on showing off for each other.
They only stayed within the same frame for a few moments, then they were off, male to the left, female to the right.
The lichen covered branches were cause to stop and check for snacks. Then, as often happens with small birds, they worked their way higher into the tree, out of the camera’s reach.
