A pileated woodpecker lands on the dead elm right beside the flicker den hole and knocks twice. A flicker pokes her head out. He flies off.
The view from my front porch every morning, in 140 or fewer characters
Tag Archives: elm
A muffled knocking from inside the...
A muffled knocking from inside the dead elm. A flicker’s head pops out of a hole and flings a billful of wood chips into the sun.
Also tagged flicker
3 Comments
Thin fog. A flicker is excavating a...
Thin fog. A flicker is excavating a den hole in the dead elm on the other side of the yard, his head almost disappearing into the tree.
The top half of a dead elm behind the...
The top half of a dead elm behind the house crashes down in the wind. I remember the porcupine in its topmost branch like a crown of thorns.
Also tagged porcupine, wind
3 Comments
Warm, overcast and damp. The last bit...
Warm, overcast and damp. The last bit of bark on the dead elm tree glows pale green on the outer half of a limb, a four-fingered glove.
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 downy woodpecker
Comments Off
Gone for just two days, I come home...
Gone for just two days, I come home to find half the lilac crushed by a fallen limb from the dead elm. A phoebe already uses it as a perch.
Also tagged lilac, phoebe
6 Comments
A lone cedar waxwing sits on the topmost...
A lone cedar waxwing sits on the topmost branch of the dead elm, wheezing his high thin call as the sky’s deepest blue fades to daylight.
Also tagged cedar waxwing
Comments Off
The small cross of a plane against...
The small cross of a plane against the blue, its distant drone. A flicker climbing the dead elm loses his footing on a patch of sunlight.
Trees rock and sway. The dead elm has...
Trees rock and sway. The dead elm has parted with its largest limb, and the oblong scar glows a creamy yellow, like a well-aged cheese.
Also tagged wind
Comments Off
