Today was warm and sunny. I took a break from chainsawing trail to mark some standing deadwood. Now that chainsaw season is open, I need to cut fuelwood for the Deerwood Forest Management Office woodstove chop chop.
I wandered along the trail into the northern compartment, spray painting a tree here and a tree there. Then I stopped at the sound of commotion above. Two, then three pileated woodpeckers were falling all over each other, squawking in their strange way in the top canopy branches above. These are the grand daddy woodpeckers of the forest and not very common to see. Part of my job as a forest manager is to develop an inviting habitat for these particular birds. So, it was a real treat for me to stop and watch them above.
When excited, they`re like sugar-powered Comic-Con nerdswith red Mohawk wigs.
At first I assumed they were looking for insects, though not pecking the tree bark. But they definitely excited about something, swooping from branch to branch. They were going from one black cherry to the next. Then I realized that they were actually eating the ripe cherries - I didn't know they ate fruit! Even though those cherry trees are infected with the deadly black knot disease, I began to wonder if I should cut them down after all. Something to consider.
And that`s when everything slowed down to a stop, watching the woodpeckers eating the cherries above, shafts of sunlight streaming through the trees on a perfect day.
(for more information on pileated woodpecker habitat, download this MNR document).
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