Sun through a skim of clouds. A nuthatch and a downy woodpecker trade anxious, nasal notes between the faint shadows of the trees.
The view from my front porch every morning, in 140 or fewer characters
Tag Archives: downy woodpecker
Bare ground in the herb bed has risen...
Bare ground in the herb bed has risen into spires—a city of frost. A downy woodpecker booms like a pileated on a hollow limb.
Also tagged frost, garden
2 Comments
Mid-morning, and my feet are propped...
Mid-morning, and my feet are propped on the rail as usual. A female downy woodpecker lands on my right boot and taps at the worn-down sole.
Also tagged boots
4 Comments
A downy woodpecker lands on the dead...
A downy woodpecker lands on the dead elm, his black-and-white feathers against the barkless trunk as startling and dramatic as a totem pole.
Also tagged elm
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Darkening sky. A downy woodpecker gleaning...
Darkening sky. A downy woodpecker gleaning breakfast from the dead cherry’s flaking limbs pauses to scratch his face with one fast foot.
Also tagged cherry tree
1 Comment
To the south, the hysterical-sounding...
To the south, the hysterical-sounding whoops of a pileated woodpecker. To the north, the rapid taps of a downy, that tachycardia.
Also tagged pileated woodpecker
12 Comments
So quiet, the downy woodpecker tapping...
So quiet, the downy woodpecker tapping a dead branch sounds as loud as a pile driver. High overhead, the half moon like a big right ear.
Highway noise from over the ridge;...
Highway noise from over the ridge; a whiff of diesel. A downy woodpecker going up the dead elm passes a nuthatch going down.
A chipmunk dashes over the snow from...
A chipmunk dashes over the snow from one tree melt-hole to another. A downy woodpecker finds a hollow limb that makes him sound enormous.
Also tagged chipmunks
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A morning for woodpeckers: I hear the...
A morning for woodpeckers: I hear the trilling of a red-bellied, the cackling of a pileated, and a downy’s steady trepanning of a maple.
Also tagged pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker
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