Pileated Woodpecker Encounter
As Mollie and I left the car park to walk the track on the edge of the meadow, I could hear the staccato call of the Pileated Woodpecker. Similar to the Northern Flicker, it tends to be shorter and a little deeper to my ear.
We walked the path which gives Mollie a chance to enjoy the meadow grass and indulge her cocker spaniel instincts.
At first I heard the zygodactyl scratching on the reverse of a tree trunk. Next I saw the low black swooping wingspan of the Pileated as it skirted the edge of the wood and landed on a tree up ahead of me.
Eventually he moved on along the wooded edge of the meadow before disappearing into the deeper forest. I have little doubt we will encounter him again.
Mollie often mistakes them for squirrels and so will chase them off the ground or point them out on tree trunks above us. More often than not I first spot them on the forest floor or low down on a tree trunk or rotten stump. They seem to have little fear of being on the ground.
