it's all about timing...

Today, Sunday, was church in the morning and an afternoon of cleaning up my yard for the final time ( I hope) for the winter. After finishing all my work, I grabbed my camera to take a picture or two to send to my kids, to show them how hard I had been working to clean things up. Just as I hit the front steps, a racket rang out behind my barn and suddenly what I thought was perhaps a hawk came flying through and around to the backside of our home. Fortunately I had my zoom lens on, and right behind the first noise-maker came another. No hawk, but a really large woodpecker, which I caught in flight, though a bit out of focus.

He hung a quick left mid-air and came to roost on a tree stump, which I noticed had been being attacked for some time by woodpeckers. He landed and banged away on the far side of the stump for a good 45-60 seconds, and bark was flying in all directions. Finally he came around to be in view.

Frankly, I was very surprised at the size of this bird. I did a Google search before doing this post and learned the following: Woodpeckers are 7 to 15 inches long, have short legs, sharp-clawed toes and stiff tails. Most woodpeckers feed on wood-boring insects, insects on trees and the ground, vegetable matter, berries, or tree sap. My-my, what a bird! Not your typical downey! And all the while that he was doing this feeding and ripping, he and his buddy around the far side of the house were just talking up a storm back and forth. What a racket!

So, it was an interesting end to the afternoon, shortly before sunset. I was extremely happy I happened to be outside just at that moment. I also was glad I hadn't cut that stump off earlier, and that it's a feeding ground for wildlife. I know I have to cut it some time, but after what I saw today, I think it can stay for a bit longer.