November 4th,6th,& 8th 2013. Brasstown, North Carolina. Our days in North Carolina were pretty busy and access to the internet somewhat limited. I had mentally noted the conspicuous, almost daily presence of a Pileated Woodpecker; pretty exciting stuff, but there were many distractions and I didn’t get around to posting it as a Bird of the Day; not then anyway.
On my first early morning let’s-see-what’s-out-there walk, a crisp, white, frosty morning, I hadn’t gone 100 yards from our house when I heard the ringing call of a Pileated Woodpecker somewhere far behind me. It seemed too distant and unlikely to be anywhere close, so instead of searching for it I just made a mental note to be on the lookout. Minutes later turning around to look back towards the house, I noticed a bird on the upper branches of a large poplar tree. It was the Pileated Woodpecker and according to my notes it was the second bird of any species seen that morning (apparently after a Red-bellied Woodpecker, which must not have been very memorable.) A promising start though to a morning that included many singing Carolina Wrens, a small group of Cedar Waxwings and a solitary Eastern Bluebird, also singing.
Two days later, again early morning although no frost this time, I caught sight of a Pileated Woodpecker flying high overhead, flashing its bold white under-wing patches, leaving the forests behind and heading towards to the nearby river-flanking thickets. That particular morning turned out well and I recorded 23 species including several heartwarming Eastern Bluebirds
And then on my final North Carolinian birding effort, the Great Blue Heron morning, we heard a Pileated Woodpecker calling from somewhere back in the forest.
I wasn’t able to become in any way acquainted the countryside around the folk school, but it appears to be a thinly populated land of densely wooded rolling hills with scraps of small scale farming and small settlements in the valleys. The forests are mostly hardwoods (oaks, cherries and Tulip Trees) and evidently perfectly suited to Pileated Woodpeckers who like large expanses of forest where they tend to roam widely. Whether I always encountered the same bird each morning I’ll never know; it’s probable since they are somewhat territorial. A collective Bird of the Week I think.