Monday, February 24, 2020

Spring Awakening

Rat-a-tat-tat!  Rat-a-tat-tat! I heard from a tree in the yard. A woodpecker! "Its a sign of spring," my husband said as we got into the car. Maybe so, I'm so ready for spring!

I do love woodpeckers! Their resounding staccato  in the trees or posts are like a signal to the forests that they are here.

 I once saw a large, white bird with red. black and white feathers on a telephone post as we passed by on the highway. I realized it was a woodpecker, but the biggest I had ever seen.  It looked like the comic book character, Woody Woodpecker!

Later, I learned it was a pileated woodpecker, referring to the crest on top of its head. These interesting birds are useful in God's creation. When hammering out a cavity in a tree, they are leaving a nesting spot for birds who frequently make homes inside a tree. The woodpeckers, however, do not nest there.

Thinking of birds bring back memories of when I was a little girl, maybe 4 or 5.  A nest of blue-jays was in a tree in our front yard, and as the little birds were learning to fly, several dropped to the ground. Attracted by the cute little birds, I picked them up one by one and lined them up on the fence. I was so proud of my treasure, when mama bird flew down and flogged me on the head! Not like a woodpecker drilling, but pretty close!

Years later, my husband and sons built a deck attached to our house, leaving an opening for a sapling in the corner. As time went by, the sapling grew and harbored a bird nest. Soon, little blue eggs filled the nest from which I later heard tantalizing little cheeps.  Curiosity got the best of me, so I put a folding ladder on the deck and climbed to peek in the nest. Wrong! Mama bird got me again! I was just glad it wasn't a woodpecker!










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