My giant of a husband Moe (6'4", 280#), wages constant war with the carpenter bees on our back deck. Because I'm not fond of harmful insecticides, he keeps an old tennis racket handy to whack at the bees when we're supposedly relaxing with a nice glass of wine overlooking the backyard in the evenings. The ongoing battle of Moe vs the carpenter bees is one of my greatest sources of entertainment. It's a regular David and Goliath story. And as in the original version, David keeps winning.
Perhaps Moe will be pleased when I tell him about the well-equipped stranger who came to his assistance today. I had just returned from morning yoga practice with my yayas when I heard the telltale ratatat of woodpecker just outside the bedroom door that opens onto the deck. I assumed it was the red bellied friend that often comes to the feeder.
But no! Even without glasses I could tell by the size and color it was a pileated woodpecker hard at work on the banister. He stayed long enough for me to find glasses and phone. These shots had to be snapped through the glass, since opening the door would have scared the fellow off. Hence, they're blurry. Still, how thrilling, the gift of a pileated woodpecker. Not to mention funny. Wish I had thought to make a video of this guy. I'm not sure he knew what to make of the bee that kept buzzing around his head.
And I don't know if Moe will be more grateful for the eviction of the bee or upset with the further damage done to the banister, but I was over the moon at the opportunity to observe a pileated woodpecker going eye-to-eye with a carpenter bee a dozen feet from where I stood. dkm
13 comments:
Oh my GOODNESS!! I am not going to do the cost/benefit analysis of having a PIWO hammering on your deck railing...nope, not going there. Worth it to me. I sure hope Moe feels the same way, yiiikes! Love it!
LOL--me too---not to mention the enhanced value added by a comment from Julie Zickefoose! And to add to it, when I sent one of the photos to my daughter-in-law, who is an ornithology professor in Indiana, she texted back that at the moment my photo came through, she and her ornithology class were observing a red-headed woodpecker. So far, I'm not getting much other work done today.
And to my longtime readers, my new daughter-in-law is the same bird expert, Dr. Zinn, of some older posts, with whom I went on a bird-banding expedition. Can you believe my good fortune? She married my daughter! And now we have an ornithologist in the family.
Wow! Because I don't know anything about the behaviour of carpenter bees or pileated woodpeckers (neither of which we have) I assumed the woodpecker was after the bees - until I got to the last photo and then I realised that maybe Woody was just after a good peck???
What a handsome bird :-)
Moe and tennis racket reminds me of childhood summers when my father would stalk the kitchen swatting flies while my mum was doing the evening meal...
I'm not sure, but I think he may have been after the larvae in the bee holes. The bee itself (was she the queen?) seemed to befuddle the bird. He went back and forth between pecking in the wood and snapping up to check on the bee. Took many failed shots to get the one of his head popping up from behind the rail. He finally climbed up to the top and just watched the bee. I was amazed by his huge feet. The red streak on his chin identifies him as a male. I've only ever seen one other in my life that I remember and that was from a distance, so this was a real treat. And he came back today to the same spot. I wonder if he is a youngster b/c he looks smaller than most of the google images. Here's hoping we had a nest nearby. His slow heavy pecking reverberated like a hammer. Powerful beak!
The birds and the bees indeed! what an education you're getting!
Woody Woodpecker! Of course! :-). Until JR's. comment I had never considered his origins.
Amen! Thx to th comments. See what your bumblebee sighting started. It's one of the pleasures of blogging.
Not so fast on that pileated=Woody Woodpecker, DKM. I abased myself publicly when I assumed that. You might enjoy this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101665227
LOL--I certainly did enjoy that---and I'm with you---Woody looks a lot more like a pileated woodpecker than an acorn :-). Besides, don'tcha just feel sorry for people who take themselves that seriously? They miss out on all the good things life has to offer by spending it going around correcting other people's mistakes---if they ARE mistakes---and in this case, who's to say? But just think---he'll be able to say on his death bed, "At least I corrected the NPR listening community's misconceptions about Woody Woodpecker."
Now that is one seriously scary "pecker" he has !!! To add to others comments on Woody Woodpeckers .. they all peck on wood so they all are :)
Lovely looking bird and being red and black he would fit right in here in Canterbury (NZ) as are our regional colours. I have seen rings of holes around trees which they store their winter treats in .. do they kill those trees or is it another miracle of nature that they only pick trees which can handle being picked on ?
Also .. nice patio furniture :)
Hahahaha, PG! You guessed it again. I think they only go after dead trees where there are more insects to be found and the wood is softer. All part of that lovely "miracle" as you suggest. It's quite an elegant housekeeping system, not? Trouble is, they can't distinguish between building material and dead trees. And yes, my phone camera seemed to think it was the chair I wanted to focus on. Grrrrr!
To them the building material is a dead tree. Just has a special use by someone else :)) Good answer thanks.
Post a Comment