Rapping, rapping......

Today was a sort of drippy day outside forcing me to spend most of my day cooped up within the walls of the Little Bayou House. This was ok for a while as we need the rain but I started getting a mite stir crazy about mid afternoon. Even with the drizzling rain, I escaped the confines of the house for a few minutes just to stroll around the gardens a bit. Things were just as I had left them the day before but I still felt the need to breathe a little fresh air. While out and about, I heard something "gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door". No..actually it was not so gently rapping and was definitely not at my chamber door! It was more like someone was taking a hammer to some hunk of wood. After following the sound, I found the source of the hammering..a Pileated Woodpecker.

At first glance, I thought perhaps this bird was ill as it did not quite look as sleek as those I have been photographing around the place. It appeared to be missing quite a number of its feathers. I watched as the bird did his thing. He hammered almost incessantly without any regard to my presence. This gave me a wonderful view of him! Down the tree he came ..pecking away at any soft spot in the Black Gum Tree. When he got to the bottom of the tree, I realized that he was not ill but just a very young bird that had not gotten all of his adult feathers yet. This woodpecker must have come from a late hatching as he should have been well developed by this late in the season. His head and neck feathers were sparse and he looked more gangly than elegant like his parents. Poor bird, he would be cold this evening! The weather was in for a change and his nigh bald head was going to be chilly if he did not snuggle down in the nest cavity.

It then occurred to me that I was getting a mite chilly as well! The wind had picked up a tad and being damp from the mist, I was literally shivering! Time to head back inside! I was wondering about the bird as the sun was setting. Had he returned to the nest where it was safe and warm or was he shivering away on some limb..his head and neck tucked under his wing? Sometimes, I think I worry too much about the critters on this Bayou!