Today marks my fourth consecutive visit to the park this week. I'm glad I set a goal for more frequent visits as you just never know what you might see. Tonight was certainly no exception as I came across two Pileated Woodpeckers together on the north side. My previous encounters with these birds have been much further away but this evening I was finally able to view them VERY close up!
It started as I noticed just one at ground level hammering away at a fallen tree. I found it tough to get a photo of him (or her) as it was so interested in the log that it would crawl towards the underside and disappear beneath the underbrush. I must have taken 50+ photos before I caught one decent one. In addition, this bird hammers away at dead wood like nothing I've ever seen before.
After the second bird hopped up onto the same log I had the rare opportunity to see both a male and female at the same time. Together, they made short work of the log and I even saw one of them prying
large chunks of bark off with their beak. I tried hard for a shot with both of them together but they never really got close enough. During the long time I watched them, I krept closer ever so slowly and quietly as not to scare the away.
I did hear their call a couple times and it immediately made me think of Woody Woodpecker as it was kind of a crazy kind of "laugh." As close as I was, I took close to 100 shots before catching just a few of these blog-worthy pics. While they weren't hammering away, they would pause and pitch their head in about 2-3 different directions within about two seconds. So these photos were no easy task with my $200 point and shoot camera!
Note the female has only a partial red "cap" versus the male's complete red cap. The male also had a red "moustache" behind the beak compared to black behind the beak on the female. Quite the subtle difference!
Today marks my fourth consecutive visit to the park this week. I'm glad I set a goal for more frequent visits as you just never know what you might see. Tonight was certainly no exception as I came across two Pileated Woodpeckers together on the north side. My previous encounters with these birds have been much further away but this evening I was finally able to view them VERY close up! 
It started as I noticed just one at ground level hammering away at a fallen tree. I found it tough to get a photo of him (or her) as it was so interested in the log that it would crawl towards the underside and disappear beneath the underbrush. I must have taken 50+ photos before I caught one decent one. In addition, this bird hammers away at dead wood like nothing I've ever seen before. 
After the second bird hopped up onto the same log I had the rare opportunity to see both a male and female at the same time. Together, they made short work of the log and I even saw one of them prying large chunks of bark off with their beak. I tried hard for a shot with both of them together but they never really got close enough. During the long time I watched them, I krept closer ever so slowly and quietly as not to scare the away. 
I did hear their call a couple times and it immediately made me think of Woody Woodpecker as it was kind of a crazy kind of "laugh." As close as I was, I took close to 100 shots before catching just a few of these blog-worthy pics. While they weren't hammering away, they would pause and pitch their head in about 2-3 different directions within about two seconds. So these photos were no easy task with my $200 point and shoot camera! 
Note the female has only a partial red "cap" versus the male's complete red cap. The male also had a red "moustache" behind the beak compared to black behind the beak on the female. Quite the subtle difference!
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