Woody woodpecker pecks our trees

We are truly blessed by the number of birds we have in our yard. From cardinals to bluebirds to wrens, they all like to have a splash in our bird bath and nest in our trees. Over the past week we have seen two new birds around town. The first was a woodpecker as seen to the left. He made a huge mess of the dead tree by pecking holes in the bark which then promptly fell onto the driveway. There must have been at least 100 holes on that one tree. I was able to determine (from the internet!) that this is a Pileated Woodpecker. "Nearly as large as a crow, the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in most of North America. Its loud ringing calls and huge, rectangular excavations in dead trees announce its presence in forests across the continent."

Incidentally the other vistor we had was a small hawk (?) cruising the updrafts after the hurricane had moved on. A good sign for Hawthorn? Go Buddy!!