Is it pronounced "pill-ee-ated" or "pile-ee-ated"?
According to the Natureworks website, either prounciation is correct. But, no matter which way you choose to pronounce it, this large native woodpecker (second only to the nearly extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker), is a very wary and elusive creature--at least for this photographer!
I had been trying for months to capture photos of a pair that my husband said had been coming to the suet feeder at our little lake cabin. However, each time I would lay in wait with camera ready, they didn't appear. Or, if they did appear, they fled at the slightest movement, unlike their smaller cousins the Red-bellied woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers or downy woodpeckers who are regular visitors to our feeders and don't seem to care if anyone is watching.
Finally, one January weekend when we had our eight year old granddaughter with us, we spotted the female at the suet feeder on our deck. Now, if you know anything at all about eight year olds, you know that sitting still for more than three minutes ranks right up there with cruel and unusual punishment! However, she's been watching birds with me since before she could walk, so with many reminders about sitting absolutely still we were able to capture these photos through the glass of the kitchen window. Even then, the bird knew that something wasn't quite right and she played hide and seek with us from behind the tree trunk for quite a while. I was quite excited to have gotten the photos--but not nearly as excited as I was about having shared the moment with my granddaughter, who hopefully will someday pass this experience on to another generation.
1 comment:
They are one of my favorite birds, they are just so difficult to see.
Post a Comment