Pileated woodpecker.
Got really cold last night, and—as expected—the sun emerged this Christmas morning from the sea. Since I was on my own, I washed dishes, thought about breakfast, decided to make coffee only and then hurry on up to Beech Hill with Jack.
We pulled into the parking lot to find pileated woodpecker at it again. I snuck out of my truck and managed not only some photos but also a video of its excavation techniques. Fascinating and impressive how quickly and easily it manages to chisel off great shavings of the interior of the big dead pine to get to the (I assume) carpenter ants deep inside. In the video, you can hear the tinkling sound of the iced-up, wind-blown twigs of the hardwoods rimming the parking lot. But soon enough my fingers began to sting from the cold, so we began to walk, and the bird flew.
Ascending, we got an eyeful of the reason I hurried up to the hill: the brilliance of a sun-lit landscape covered in ice. A brilliant and beautiful hike—with one moment of dismay when I noticed that the tallest limb of my favorite little birch tree had broken. Now I’m curious as to what it’ll look like when the ice finally melts away.
Crystallized.
After we got home, I held in my mind the idea of returning in afternoon to see the change in all the refraction going on, and so we did, six hours later. This time, we encountered nearly two dozen other Christmas hikers. And the difference in the light? Morning, silver; afternoon, gold.
Encountered no yellow-rumps today, but saw crow and chickadee and flicker.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9:15 a.m., and again at 3:15 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Pileated woodpecker
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. American crow*
4. Northern flicker
Elsewhere
5. Herring gull
*Also elsewhere
Afternoon ice.
