The Drummer Boys-WBW

Although Ive noticed a slight downturn in the numbers, woodpeckers seem to be doing well.. near my home is an area I nic-named the 40 Acre Woods-its a large 103 acre tract with a vacant land owner--its used for timber cutting and leased to hunters in season--it is great Red Headed Woodpecker habitat!  With plentiful snags and a low laying area that supports a large insect
population, its the perfect habitat for these beautiful birds! 

They drum quite loudly when they are digging a bug out of the dead wood--but Nothing like the Pileated Woodpecker the cousin to the possibly back from extinction Ivory Billed Woodpecker.  In the field it would be easy to distinguish between the Ivory Billed that has a very large white wing patch....These guys make a very loud jungle type call and the drumming sound can travel for some distance- 

The Downy Woodpecker is a visitor to the suet in the yard on occasion...not as frequently as in the past--these small woodpeckers are quite common though in my area.  They drum really fast and not so loud but you can certainly hear it.  They will drum on the wood of your house!  They have a high pitched little pik call and the faint whinny sound too. The Hairy Woodpecker is sometimes confused with the Downy but I usually check the beak length..the hairy has a longer beak.  (sorry no Hairy Photo) I think its fascinating how the length of the beak means woodpeckers don't compete for the same grubs!  The grubs that live deeper in the wood are eaten by the longer beaked birds!




Another familiar woodpecker in my area is the Red Bellied Woodpecker.  I wish I had a better photo to represent this fellow--I love the dotted white on black of this birds back.  They also drum loudly and have a call that sort of rolllssss out...like a chatter.

This post is a contribution to World Bird Wednesday meme -click the icon to read about birds of the world and see some wonderful photos and meet some interesting bloggers!--



A Quiet Hike @ Goodale SP

IT'S FRIDAY-
I dont know why I get excited over Fridays except its a left over warm n fuzzy of all those years of working--anyways I am doing some at home work again for a wee while and dont know how long it will last, have my fingers crossed--I finished up my work on Wednesday and so that means time to wander around. 

I would like to find a new spot "an unseen jewel" but for now my home ground will have to curb my hunger for adventure and travel! Goodale State Park is only a couple of miles from here so after I walked the girls I took off to walk myself around the lake with my camera...and to see what was stirring..I know this's not adventurous but it's always great  to be out hiking---

OF course the ducks and other waterfowl always  know Im coming and I hear them flush right away and that douses my chances of getting any good photos of them -there's always that glimmer of hope & unless I figure out how to levitate, its not happening --especially on these freshly fallen bed of crispy leaves!

... since I dont always enter via the main entrance (thats too easy and the best views of the lake are on the backside) I park on the highway & wander in crossing the boundary line, over the river, and through the woods --kinda...you sort of have to wade this bit of run off ....watch your step or you'll get a cold bath!



How did I manage to sneak up on these geese? Not sure I know its not exactly anything new or exciting, but I always enjoy seeing wildlife--no matter what...they almost seemed to be whispering or gossiping ...

The Cypress trees at Goodale are amazing in every season.  In the fall they turn the most outrageous shade of RUST....this shot is from my last visit there back on the 28th of October so about a month ago...

All the needles are gone now and the trunks and large bases of the trees is quite striking...the wind finally stopped on Wednesday (I think the whole southern hemisphere was having wind on Wednesday) the water was calm and that means great reflections--

            

...behind this first line of trees- if you look back beyond these-- where the sun is still hitting you can see the swift lake channel and the water there was so BLUE--amazing I have canoed this lake before with my son, we paddled the channel it goes way back to where the little stream becomes barely a trickle in dry season....

So I walked to the other side of the lake where the Nature Trail is and saw Pied Billed Grebe, and Cormorants diving under the chilled water...I took some fuzzy photos of them but nothing worth sharing...flushed a Great Blue Heron and scared the beJeesus out a few mallards ......and got some retreating shots of them but still nothing worth sharing---I found this single leaf floating and it didn't fly away so--

It was getting cold and I had to cross the "bridge" on my way back so I took off and once I got around the other side again... I heard the Jungle cry of a Pileated Woodpecker and there he was poking around one of the dead Cypress that has numerous woodpecker holes up and down the trunk...its pretty far out in the water at least 100 ft maybe more so I didnt get a stellar shot of this guy but he remained STILL long enough for me to snap a few shots with my trusty Kodak,....not terrific --but the best Ive gotten so far of this getting more rare species--I was hoping for the Ivory Billed but...wtheck Ill take this Northern Ficker instead!

So today is another free day for me, and tomorrow and the next and I'm  wondering what I can get into? NO TELLING--hope all of you have a wonderful weekend, Ill be making my reading rounds of your blogs--