Wildlife Wonders

One of the pleasures of living out away from the city is stumbling upon nature in the raw.  Today I had two unexpected pleasures.  I was talking to my neighbor who had been to a funeral service for a long time friend.  She just needed to talk as part of the calming down process.  After we had talked for a while I heard a noise from the far part of the house.  I told her I thought someone was at my door, so we hung up.  I walked to the back door as I have a door bell at the front, nothing there.  I heard it again and walked through my kitchen and realized it was coming from up high.  I looked up at a second floor window which looks out onto an upper deck.  Then I saw what was making the noise.  It was a bird.  As I watched I realized it was a woodpecker and one that is not commonly seen.  The large beak and odd shaped head - red - with stripes on the side and large body told me it was the Pileated Woodpecker. 

I have seen the red headed woodpecker at the bird feeding station and the Downy woodpecker and others which I think are juveniles but this fellow was really big.  My bird book says he is 17" long.  I think he must have seen his reflection in the window and was trying to engage his own image.  To get a better view - and hoping to get a picture - I went up the stairs to the balcony and waited.  In a little while I decided to go out on the deck itself and see what I could see.  As I opened the door, I saw another unusual sign of nature in the raw.  The skin of some snake had been shed inside my screen door and left there!  I had not opened that door in a long time, I had tried, but it is hard to open.  I had found snake skins before - down in my well house and once in a garden area in front of a stone wall.  This snake must have crawled up the side of the house looking for a safe spot to shed his skin, how else could he have gotten there!

Something else I did not expect to see was a mourning dove at the feeding station but one came by and seemed to enjoy getting seeds from the suet cake.  On another occasion I saw a big woodpecker fly to the suet cake at the same time that a titmouse flew there.  For a moment they just sat there in peace then the woodpecker poked the smaller bird with his bill and it tumbled off and down.  Then I saw the woodpecker strike his bill on the wire cage a few times.  When he did tiny feathers flew about.  He must have given that smaller bird a hefty hit, enough to take out some feathers.

Some time ago I wrote about Chester the cat who would be coming to live here.  It has not happened yet but he will find work for him to do when he does arrive.  I have seen no sign of moles, but I think I may have a vole at work.  Years ago my cats kept the voles away from my bulbs and I look forward to Chester doing the same.  I think I have seen signs of them drilling into the wood chips where I have bulbs planted.  The bulbs are not coming up as they did last year so my suspicions may be correct.

The lake here is up to normal pool and it is about 1000 feet from my house.  It is a good water source for the birds.  I could make it easier for them by putting out a water bowl, and perhaps I shall.

For several days I saw a hummingbird come to the station and look around but I had no feeder there for him, so I finally got one up.  When he came by, he investigated, but he appeared to not want to be so close to the other birds and did not stay.  I moved his feeder away close to a rose bush.  I cannot see it very well from my window so I believe I will move it to another place, maybe close to the coral honeysuckle.  It is in full bloom and I think the hummingbirds will like it too.

It has been an exciting day in my nature observations, Since the deer are not coming around right now, the Pileated Woodpecker is most welcome and as long as the snakes stay outside I do not mind them shedding their coats in my doorway.  All of nature has a place in the ecosystem of our planet.  And who am I to deny them the pleasure of visiting here.