The pileated woodpecker rat-a-tat-tatting on the dead tops of the paradise tree woke me. With coffee in mug and fuzzy socks and jacket I went to the porch with my binoculars to investigate. I could see the chips of the bark flying even before I could focus on the big bird. The sun was coming up behind the trees, making the tree limbs and the birds seem like a black and white photo. Silhouetted against the morning sky I watched a mated pair of the huge woodpeckers work the tree.As the sun got higher and the crows and smaller birds became active the pair worked their way down the field line and headed for more cover in the deeper parts of the woods by the creek. Smaller woodpeckers appeared and worked the same area the Pileateds' had been, apparently enjoying the smaller bugs left exposed. Bob and I love to hear the monkey jungle sounds these birds make as they call to each other. We seem to have several mated pairs and are lucky to see them on a regular basis. Most people never get the chance to see them but they might have heard them and not known what was making the loud rapping , jack-hammer sounds on the dead limbs and the jungle noises.
