One of the perks of having a wooded backyard (with several dead trees) is the presence of Pileated Woodpeckers.
This afternoon, my husband spotted one near the fence-line and said, “Get your camera!” Well, he didn’t have to tell me twice.
Now, sneaking up on this fellow proved to be impossible as the ground is covered with loud, crunchy leaves. And getting a clear shot through the maze of twigs and branches was nearly impossible, though I’m sure looked quite comical! I was pleased to get a couple of pictures that had a pretty good view of him.
By the way, you can tell this one is a male because of the red cheek stripe. The same stripe on the female is black. He was using his enormous beak to drill into the rotten wood in search of tasty insects.
I am hoping that the future holds many more visit from these beautiful birds!
Backyard Bird Nerd 
I had loads of them on my Idaho property. I used to call to them using the Audubon app and they’d come super close and look at me like I was a weird looking pileated ☺️
Hmmm….might just have to try that!
Fantastic photos of the very special pileated, Kathy.
Thanks so much!
Oh, Kathy!You all got lucky too. Your very ow P>W. Neighbor. You have caught him gloriously!
They are so fascinating to watch. There is a dead tree on the ground farther back in the woods, and they have shredded it into mulch with their pecking and drilling.
He’s a looker!
Fantastic! I hope he sticks around!
Me too!
So cool! I have had them visit my backyard once or twice in the 30 years we’ve been here. Never still or when I have a camera, andyou are right, they know exactly where you are, so sneaking up is not an option!