January 7

We’re in the start of a January thaw today, with temperatures in the upper 30s, brilliant skies and barely a breeze. Mostly because I wanted an excuse to go outside, and partly because I thought I should shovel the snow from the porch, I went out to the back yard just before noon.

There wasn’t a whisper of breeze, and the midday sun was blissfully warm on my face, so much so that I just closed my eyes and tilted my head slightly back, like one of the Easter Island statues.

It was after a minute of this that I heard them down in the forest that borders our back yard. Unmistakable. Two Pileated Woodpeckers were calling to one another in their laughing sort of a trill. Pileateds are beautiful birds to behold, especially if you are fortunate to be close enough to watch them at work carving out a hole. With a striking red cap, black body and banded face, the contrasts of this large bird are simply beautiful. Unlike the smaller downy and hairy cousins, the Pileated tends to be a shy bird – which is why you more often hear them deep in the woods rather than see them near the house.

A rare treat for me. No sooner did I hear their calls then did they both fly in parallel over the house toward the field across the road. As distinctive is their call, their flight is equally recognizable as a series of rising flaps and falling rests, a mixture of flap-up, flap-up, rest down, flap-up, flap-up.