I don’t know what kind of woodpecker Woody the Woodpecker actually was - and if I’ve lost some readers here, Woody the Woodpecker was a cartoon on when I was a child. Woody was a troublemaker character and I feel the same about the real thing. We have 3 fairly common woodpeckers here and although there are plenty of trees, the nice, relatively soft wood of house siding is sometimes more attractive to them. It’s head rattling to hear and then the holes in the siding… update to this post 8/31…Yes, the guy to the left is a pileated Woodpecker - I actually thought I wrote this but got lost in the writing and not until I rechecked after an email from my mother did I realize that I didn’t positively identify this guy - yes a male - telltale sign is the red “mustache” which the females do not have.
My cat, Gus, who was all of 8 pounds bagged 2 of the large, gray, Northern Flicker - 2 that I know of. And actually, it was interesting to handle them - they were apparently not good eating - they were left intact in the laundry room so I had to dispose of the bodies. They were so light! I read a science fantasy book at one time that had to do with hybrid bird-humans that had wings and part of the process was hollow bones to minimize weight - and that is actually true of birds, they have hollow bones. It is still always a surprise to me to hold a bird (granted, they are always dead) and feel how light they are. I’ve picked up hawks who did themselves in on some window and that large, hunter - capable of killing cats and rabbits - like nothing in my hands.
I am not a bird watcher by any means, but with the cats, I’ve had the “opportunity” to see a variety of them “up close and personal”. I do enjoy seeing the bald eagles - growing up in Ohio - the bald eagle, symbol of the U.S. - seemed a mystical, magical bird. And they do look very dignified whether flying or sitting on some high perch. Ravens, aka Montana Black Eagles … have some mystic surrounding them according to Native American lore - I don’t know any of it, but I do know that when they fly overhead - and they often fly below the treetops along my drive - I can hear the swish of wings and they sound much bigger than they are. I recognize the sound now and can stop and just listen without feeling like something intends to carry me away. The sound of their wings is one of those sounds - like wind in the pines, or blowing snow - that evoke some deep, peaceful feeling - the closeness of God, the miracle of nature, my good fortune in being able to stop, be silent and listen…