A walk in the orange grove offers so much beauty! Sometimes you have to look closely and sometimes you have to look up. This morning I was lucky enough to look up and see that my favorite pileated woodpecker couple was feeding their babies. The edge of the grove is fringed with 20 to 40 foot sabal palms, many with their tops sheared off from the hurricanes of 2005. These trees offer safe homes and nesting sites to many birds in the area. So you have to imagine I am looking up into a 40 foot headless palm and trying to zoom in with out disturbing them. Mom got nervous as I got closer and she decided to hide on the far side until I backed off a bit, but I just kept snapping--I think I got some great shots with my little Panasonic! I posted them all on this blog as I felt each one was great! The Mother is almost two feet long. The Father is a bit larger--he watched me from a tree close by.
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| The Mom was feeding, but has seen me approaching and is hesitant on what to do. |
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Since a stranger has approached, me, the feeding was stopped
and Mom started to move to far side of the tree. |
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| Where did you go Mom? |
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| Please back off so we can finish our breakfast! |
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| Leaning out further and farther to find her. |
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| I know you are still somewhere Mom! |
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| I decided to move back into one of the grove rows and Mom reappeared to finish feeding. |
Pileated Woodpeckers made my day!!!
