"A 50-cal Opened Up at 17:15 Today"

[DemoTex]

Last edited Thu Jun 1, 2017, 12:01 PM - Edit history (1)

I had been working upstairs in my Bo Zarts Studio, printing some documents. I went downstairs to slap labels on a Fedex package.

What sounded like a 50-cal machine gun opened up close by. I looked for my flak vest and steel pot. And a bunker. No defenses close by.

TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT .. loud! TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT. Exact same frequency as an NVA 12.7mm machine gun. TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.
It was coming from upstairs. Not good. I had just come from there. I could hear wood ripping.

I started up the stairs. TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT. Got louder. Upstairs hall: TAT! TAT! TAT! TAT! - LOUDER. Rounded the corner into the bedroom and, then the studio. TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

Through the one window of my Bo Zart Studio, I saw a huge pileated woodpecker - clinging to the window screen and raising hell with the window frame.

I have been trying to get a photo of a pileated woodpecker for years. What an elusive bird. So, I had a Canon 5D MK3 with a 70-200mm lens, locked and loaded for just such an occasion. I eased out the front door and got three shots before Woody flew off.

Not exactly the conditions I wanted for photographing this great bird. But, never a dull moment on this mountain.

Caesar's Head Mountain, SC
May 31, 2017



Wednesday (5/31) evening


Thursday (6/1) morning

[yardwork]

1. Wow. What a shot.

[livetohike]

2. Aww, my favorite bird. Great shot!

[SharonAnn]

51. They go after bugs, including termites. Might want to have things checked.

[BigmanPigman]

3. It really does look like Woody! Very cool.

[SharonAnn]

52. And they are huge! Or is that "yuuuge".

[tazkcmo]

4. 3 second rush

Cover to cover. Must....get...camera...must...return fire! Great shot soldier!

[MLAA]

5. So cool, I've never seen one...thanks for sharing. N/T

[Snarkoleptic]

6. Great pic!

And man, did he do a number on that window frame.

[lostnfound]

7. I'm so jealous. What a privilege. Nt

[Plucketeer]

8. Perfect man!

Just perfect!

[democrank]

9. Terrific photo of a beautiful bird.

One visited me last year with the same TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT, on the metal roof of the wood shed. I assumed he was calling for a mate.

[Best_man23]

10. The wife and I are blessed to have a mating pair nearby

There is a hollowed tree in the woods behind our house they like to go to for bugs. The tapping resounds like a deep bass drum, very cool.

[zentrum]

11. He's gonna---

...knock your house down!

[SnowCritter]

12. I used to like woodpeckers

until one of the little bastards punched a bunch of holes clear through the siding on my house (old masonite siding). With all the hundreds and hundreds of trees of all varieties in the neighborhood to find insects on, he's got to pick on my house. I found some shiny metal "earrings" for the house that have kept him away, but I still need to find a fix to the holes in the siding. Most aren't too deep - I can fill them in with wood putty - but there are two holes way up toward the top that go clear through into the attic. I covered them with duct tape (of course). But silver duct tape looks really bad on a white house, so I've got to find a better solution. Anyone have any suggestions?

On second thought, I still like woodpeckers - they're a marvel of evolution. I just don't want them destroying my house.

[rusty quoin]

18. You have insects..probably carpenter ants.

[Wawannabe]

32. Those BASTARDS!

[japple]

37. Get some white duct tape. It comes in all colors now! It could last for years.

eom

[SnowCritter]

46. Got some

I just need to find time to climb the ladder again.

[Maraya1969]

48. HAHA I just snorted my covfefe!

[Nitram]

41. Woodpeckers don't just peck to eat insect larvae. They beat out a tatoo on any surface

that will amplify the sound to announce the boundaries of their territory.

[malthaussen]

42. Paint the duct tape white?

Or cover your whole house in duct tape -- it will stand up to anything then.

-- Mal

[SnowCritter]

47. LOL!

Maybe I should - the house *does* need new siding.

[Wawannabe]

68. Yep

...up to 100 miles an hour of course!

[csziggy]

49. Woodpeckers peck for two reasons - food and sex

If they hear insects in your siding they will peck holes to find them. In that case, you need an exterminator.

If your siding makes a nice loud noise when they peck, they will peck to signal to possible mates. That's a harder fix - and metal covering the holes might actually attract the woodpeckers since it can make even more noise than wood.

We have some lighting fixtures on tall telephone poles around our arena. The woodpeckers love those solid aluminum housings in the spring. The sound of their mating signals can be heard for long distances. I think it is the red bellied woodpeckers that like them best. The pileated wood peckers seem to be traditionalists and prefer pecking on the dead loblolly pine to the south of the house. The dead partially hollow tree is like a massive drum and gives a nice resonate sound to their mating signals.

The pileateds are very successful here on the farm - we often see pairs in the spring and immature ones later in the year. Here are two my husband saw last year - the photos were taken out of our kitchen window:





Here is one I took a few years back out of our front door:

[MuseRider]

56. WOW!

So jealous!

[csziggy]

58. We have a bird paradise

Sixty acres, half in lowland woods, the other half in pasture that we are gradually letting go into trees. Not a lot of human activity, few insecticides (just spot treating ants and other nuisances around the house), a number of bird feeders and water sources. We leave dead limbs and dead trees for the woodpeckers so long as they are no danger to the house or other buildings.

We've seen every kind of woodpecker that lives or travels through this area: pileated, red bellied, red headed (rarely), red cockaded, hairy, flickers, yellow bellied sap sucker and once even a downy!

Got distracted - there was a mourning dove hovering outside my window as I was typing. She wanted to land on the tray feeder, but the supports were in her way. I'll have to spread some bird seed on the ground for her tomorrow.

[Mountain Mule]

13. AWESOME!

[Marthe48]

14. Great picture

In southern Ohio. We used to live way out in the country and we'd have one come to the suet and bird feeder. We've moved to just outside Marietta and occasionally see one in the yard. We have red-breasted, hairy and downy woodpeckers, too. Love them!

[orangecrush]

15. There is only one reply for this...

[Historic NY]

31. ...

[link:

|

[orangecrush]

35. ...

[Omaha Steve]

16. Three photos I posted last year

K&R!

Last years post: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10027790826

This is a male. You tell by the stripe by his beak. They can go through suet in record time.



I was just a few feet away in the laundry room from this female. When we replaced this window a year before, we insisted it not be frosted so we could continue to watch birds through it.



Compare the size to a hairy woodpecker.

[alfredo]

20. Great shots

[klook]

17. Beautiful bird!

You don't get to see them up close very often. I was lucky to come up on one hiking one time, just 10 feet away (I was sans camera, of course!). He was working feverishly on a stump and stayed there for a full minute before noticing us -- then he flew off.

They're surprisingly large, aren't they? Bigger than a crow -- almost as big as a vulture!

I love woodpeckers of all types, but the pileated is special. Whenever they're around you can be sure there are well-established woods nearby.

[alfredo]

19. It is a magnificent bird.

[burrowowl]

21. Good shot!

Thanks!

[Ellipsis]

22. They have made a strong come back here in Wisconsin

I see and hear them quite often.

[ailsagirl]

24. That's great to hear, Ellipsis

Thanks for the clip

[druidity33]

63. sounds like...

an aggravated small dog.





K&R

[ailsagirl]

23. Love those Pileated Woodpeckers!!

Magnificent!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

25. What a great shot, my dear DemoTex!

He IS doing a number on your window frame!

Wow. Beautiful bird!

[Hoyt]

26. Nice shot. Had one of those over bedroom window. Loud, but loved it.

[Skittles]

27. THAT NOISY REDHEAD THINKS HE IS ALL THAT

I WILL TEACH HIM THE ERROR OF HIS WAYS; yes INDEED

[Warpy]

28. When my parents had that problem

(only the little shit was pecking off the stucco), I sent them a Flat Cat, a oversized and very realistic looking tabby cat you could put into a window to deter birds.

The hilarious thing is that it worked!

[CentralMass]

29. Woody WoodPecker (circa 1941)

[icymist]

30. Great shot!

We have a pileated woodpecker coming around our apple tree now and then, but I always seem to get a blurry picture of it!

[Calista241]

33. I am super jealous of your camera. Canon 5D is my first purchase if I ever win the lottery.

[moonscape]

34. Wonderful shot! How great you had your camera at the ready! n/t

[AllaN01Bear]

36. this.

cute shot. the drumming as its called that the woodpeckers do, is a form of singing . is done in the spring and is part of mating , i think. : : meanwhile , after reading the other memember responses , i see others were in the same vein. great minds think alike ; eh?

&t=28s

[Orrex]

38. We have one that lives near us

Every time I see it, I can't believe that it's not a cartoon.

And it's beating the crap out of one poor tree in particular. Remarkable animal.

[calimary]

39. We have little Nuttall's woodpeckers here in SoCal

Little black 'n' white speckled birds that go after the tops of the power poles in our neighborhood. Sometimes they look almost like they're zebra-striped, viewed from down at ground level. I hear them while I'm out walking the dog.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Nuttalls_Woodpecker/id

Love them birdies!

[HAB911]

40. I have the same thing going on

my roof.............and I have a steel roof. Hope he doesn't do any dain bramage to himself!

[TuxedoKat]

43. Wow - great shot!

I love those birds, have them in my yard and neighborhood here too. Sorry about your windowsill!

[usaf-vet]

44. Pieleated Woodpecker are territorial he/she will be back.

My sister and brother-in-law found their house under constant attack a few years back. They decided one more remodel was in order before retirement. New siding..... that finally solve the problem. Here in the midwest northern regions the tell tale sign of Pieleated damage is a long vertical hole up the tree and a PILE of chips at the bottom. Good luck.

[DemoTex]

45. Oh, yeah! At 0655 this morning!

Last edited Thu Jun 1, 2017, 11:51 AM - Edit history (1)

I have a call in to a carpenter to come and nail a barrier (Hardiplank?) until proper repairs can be made. Meanwhile, he/she returns every hour or so. I have a camera on a tripod with a remote, so I am getting lots of photos.

[niyad]

50. wayyyyyy cool!! I shared this pic with one of our volunteers, who recognized it at once.

she was in awe.


so, you spread a lot of happiness today, DT.

[CrispyQ]

53. Wow! He did a number on that window frame!

Great post!

[cwydro]

54. Great picture!

He's doing a number on that frame lol!

[MuseRider]

55. Wonderful pictures!

My farm has lots of wooded area and they are here. All kinds of other woodpeckers of course but it seems all my neighbors see these pileated woodpeckers all the time. I hear them, they pound on the trees so loudly you know that is what it is but try as I might I have never seen one up close enough to make an actual sighting in my book. I even set up a special suet feeder for the larger woodpeckers, they all came and used it except a pileated. When I finally do sight one I am likely to plotz over. Well done Demo Tex and thanks for the pictures. Lovely birds, except when that is your window!

[SpankMe]

57. Cute birdie

I wonder what he finds so compelling about that window frame?

[NCTraveler]

59. They peck on my aluminum gutter almost daily.

It's shockingly loud. Beautiful birds.

[sfwriter]

60. A 12.7mm woodpecker set to fire semi-automatic?

[DemoTex]

62. That's it!

It least they aren't incendiary rounds, or my house would be gone now.

[The Wizard]

61. We get red bellies

in the aluminum gutters. They sound like M-60s, faster, but not as loud as the pileated .

[ffr]

64. Ha ha ha HA ha, ha ha ha HA ha, ha ha ha HA ha!

[pansypoo53219]

65. jeez, you sure he did not shoot your siding?

i remember seeing one up north WI from the cottage window, luckily he was not feeding off the big white pine he was on.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

66. Great photo!

Thanks!

[PatrickforO]

67. Wow...you guys see a great, exceptional bird.

I see hundreds of dollars worth of property damage that I will then laboriously have to fix. Not a fan of woodpeckers.

[Hortensis]

69. Wonderful! A pair nests on our wooded south slope

here in Georgia. As said, they're elusive and we only occasionally see them, but their jungly screeches are unmistakable. One day, when I was trying to find a pole saw I'd lost in the woods in the fall, one paced me from 30-40 feet overhead, reporting my location literally every 20 feet or so max for a good half hour to his mate, who would screech her acknowledgement from well to my east. They only relaxed when I gave up and climbed back up to what they apparently felt was my own territory.

[mnhtnbb]

70. We have these woodpeckers, too, here in NC and they LOVE our all wood house.

I have never been able to get a photo of any of them. Not in the trees. Not attacking the house.

Great shots!