A STRIKING SIGHT

Admiring the carpenters of the forest

- Larry Kirtley

For the past two years, I have had the privilege of witnessing two families of pileated woodpeckers build their nests and fledge two sets of nestling pileated chicks.

It began while I was out looking for something to photograph just north of my home here in Blind River, Ont. Driving along a country road, I noticed a huge pileated woodpecker flying towards my car, when it suddenly vanished.

I turned around to look for the spot the woodpecker had landed and caught sight of a telephone pole with a huge hole in it. I pulled over and noticed a female pileated woodpecker poke her head out of the opening, sending woodchips falling from the newly excavated hole.