February 13

Pileated Woodpecker

Big Bend in Sand Run Park was the next stop on our agenda. We parked and had to cut back in a bit to get to the Towpath Tail, passing an ice skating area on the way. After crossing the railroad tracks, I turned right onto the Towpath. There is a nice boardwalk here that overlooks an area below. There were lots of birds singing. I walked about a quarter of a mile in the same direction, then turned around and headed in the other direction, walking past my starting point. Very deep snow. I had to walk in the grooves made by skiers. I kept walking, curious to see where the trail led. I wound up at the corner of Merriman and Portage Path. I called Kay, who had stayed behind t watch for birds. i asked her to drive to me when she was done there. I worked my way over to Weathervane Theater, but wasn't able to walk on the towpath the whole way, because the snow was even deeper out here in "civilization."
Once Kay picked me up, we decided to drive north the short distance to the Botzum area. We knew we wouldn't be doing much walking, but we had seen a bald eagle at Botzum on January 2, right in the parking lot. We got out of the car and walked around a bit. I decided to cross Riverview and check out the towpath on that side of the street. (It crosses Riverview here.) As I was headed across the parking lot towards the road, i heard a very loud woodpecker. I yelled to Kay, "Woodpecker," and kept walking. When i got to the other side of the street, I looked up and there was a pileated woodpecker in a tree not far from where i was standing. I was able to take a few photos before it flew away. I was so overjoyed just seeing it, and being able to photograph it. Kay knew what was going on by now, and when she heard me yelling and jumping around, she asked me to be quite so I didn't scare the woodpecker away. Alas, he was gone for now.
We WILL be back to this area. First time a Bald Eagle, second time, a Pileated Woodpecker!