Tag Archives: downy woodpecker

A downy woodpecker has found a loud...

By Dave Bonta | Published April 7, 2012 at 10:15 am

A downy woodpecker has found a loud limb to hammer. When the din stops, he’s with a female. That brief cloacal kiss that passes for sex.

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Woodpeckers drumming at sunrise. It...

By Dave Bonta | Published March 27, 2012 at 8:38 am

Woodpeckers drumming at sunrise. It occurs to me that they might not be telegraphing “I am here” so much as verifying that the world is.

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A downy woodpecker gleans breakfast...

By Dave Bonta | Published February 27, 2012 at 9:28 am

A downy woodpecker gleans breakfast from the dead cherry, chirping between taps. A mackerel sky. The smell of thawed earth.

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Sun through a skim of clouds. A nuthatch...

By Dave Bonta | Published December 13, 2011 at 9:28 am

Sun through a skim of clouds. A nuthatch and a downy woodpecker trade anxious, nasal notes between the faint shadows of the trees.

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Bare ground in the herb bed has risen...

By Dave Bonta | Published November 19, 2011 at 11:33 am

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.

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Mid-morning, and my feet are propped...

By Dave Bonta | Published November 13, 2011 at 10:14 am

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.

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A downy woodpecker lands on the dead...

By Dave Bonta | Published August 27, 2011 at 10:06 am

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.

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Darkening sky. A downy woodpecker gleaning...

By Dave Bonta | Published August 13, 2011 at 7:57 am

Darkening sky. A downy woodpecker gleaning breakfast from the dead cherry’s flaking limbs pauses to scratch his face with one fast foot.

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To the south, the hysterical-sounding...

By Dave Bonta | Published February 13, 2011 at 10:51 am

To the south, the hysterical-sounding whoops of a pileated woodpecker. To the north, the rapid taps of a downy, that tachycardia.

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So quiet, the downy woodpecker tapping...

By Dave Bonta | Published December 26, 2010 at 8:03 am

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.

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