Pileated woodpecker

[Uben]

I had an unexpected sighting this afternoon. I had let my black lab out to pee, and we went to a wooded part of one of my lots where he likes to potty. I saw a huge bird soar into a tree about thirty feet away, and I was able to view the bird for about 3-4 minutes. I looked for detail, as I like to identify birds at my feeders. After a few minutes, with the bird still in the tree, I went in the house to tell the wife. SHe wanted to see for herself, so we went back out. A stroke of luck, she saw it,too! It is a magnificent looking, almost prehistoric looking bird. After looking it up, we are just outside of it's listed habitat, about 60 miles north of Dallas, Texas.

This is not my first siting of the bird. I saw it last year, but was unable to get a clear view of it, just the red crest and white under it's wings. It was within twenty feet of where I saw it last year! This leads me to believe it may be nesting in one of my oak trees. I have a large oak with an elongated knothole in it about 15 ft above the ground. I had a couple of eastern screech owls nesting there for a couple of years in a row about 7 yrs ago. I got really good pics of the owls because the knothole is only about 30 feet from my bedroom window! I only saw them at dusk, though. I hope to get some good pics of the pileated woodpecker if indeed it is nesting in the knothole.