Description

We see a lot of woodpeckers in our backyard–downy, red-bellied, hairy, and the occasional flicker. More rarely still, we see pileated woodpeckers. One evening as the sun was setting, a pileated woodpecker alighted onto a nearby dead tree. I grabbed my camera and snapped away, until the bird’s red crest degraded in color with the light. I figured that was that. But then another event: clouds shifted and the sky grew beautifully mottled with dusky light. That woodpecker kept climbing — up and up — as the sky put on a show. I took picture after picture of the woodpecker, the way it craned its face up to the sky, watching — or so it seemed — the show Nature put on for us all. That series of pictures is my favorite of 2023. More than that, I’ll never forget the evening my husband and I shared a sense of wonder with a beautiful bird over a singular sky.

Category

Woodpeckers & Sapsuckers

Species

• Pileated Woodpecker