Living near the woods means...

This afternoon, my husband and I were home doing our usual things, he, sitting on his favorite big chair in the living room, working away on a translation, and I, sitting in front of this computer, like I do for most of the day most of my days, when we heard a strange knocking coming from the kitchen.

It agitated Geni, who thought it was someone knocking at the door, a sure sign for her that a stranger is about to enter the house, and something that invariably sets her to barking. My husband got up to investigate and urgently asked that I come to the kitchen to see what it was. Neither one of us could believe our eyes.

There, on the aluminum window frame, was the famously shy and reclusive Pileated Woodpecker, pecking away at the sill, hungrily ogling the suet that hangs in front of that window. Eventually, he found his way to his target and ate avidly for a while, long enough for my husband to get his camera and take some pictures, but not even the flash scared him away.

I was glad to see him eating from the suet cage because I had been afraid that the squirrel proof dome would make it hard to reach for him, but he didn't seem to have any trouble. Eventually, when another bird came to claim the suet, he flew away, protesting in the deep monkey-like bark that characterizes the Pileated's call.

Once again we were treated to one of the rare sights that living in this small apartment near the woods offers, and to one of the reasons I like of being so very near the woods.