Is It Woody?

  Silhouettes fascinate me.  On the hikes about the hillside and down near the marsh edge, there are certain times of the day that silhouettes can be found at every turn.  The shadows under the canopy of treetops and the blank sky over the marsh makes for an amazing tapestry of images.  I photograph any that strike me as interesting.  Let one dead tree remind me of something in the past or let a cluster of leaves create a "face" and I am all over it!  The past few days have been perfect for imaging.

  The gray skies of winter coupled with the shadowy darkness of dawn are the perfect time for silhouetting!  This morning, I promise that I found Woody Woodpecker from the old cartoons.  Up on the side of a dead pine, the perfect outline of the crested creature came into view as I rounded the first curve in the path.  Why have I not seen this before???  There, about twenty feet from the ground, sat Woody in all his glory!  

  Agreeably, other folks will think my brain has been chilled beyond thinking by the recent cold snap.  Not many will see the famed cartoon character sitting in my dead pine.  It matters not.  Perhaps the vision is there for my own enjoyment.  Perhaps my active imagination is working overtime. Perhaps Mother Nature enjoys playing tricks on my mind.  Who cares!  Woody sure did not!

My Noisy Neighbor!

Woody Woodpecker lives in the pine tree behind my house! Deep in the woods where the bayou meets the creek, a dead pine tree houses a nest in a ragged hole. It is true, Woody Woodpecker resides there..actually, a Pileated Woodpecker lives there. It is a little known fact that the fun cartoon character was inspired by the Pileated Woodpecker. It is a rather large bird with almost "prehistoric" appearance. Mainly black with white under the wings, this feathered friend sports a bright red crest. Once viewed it is highly unlikely that you will ever forget a Pileated. If you do ever get a chance to sit and watch the real-life version you would easily recognize traits that were drawn into Woody. You would also be amused by the many crazy antics of this bird..crazy seeming to us but survival to it. Another little known fact about this bird is that the mainstay of its diet is ants. Carpenter ants..the ones that burrow inside of dead or damaged trees. When you see this woodpecker pounding its beak against a tree stump, you can be assured that it is searching for its favorite food. He pounds and pounds and literally rips large shards of bark and wood from the stump hunting for ants and other bugs. (The pounding called "drumming" can be up to 15 times a second!) Once he finds his fill of this prey, he will fly off to another tree all the while yelling his unique laugh-like call. The holes he leaves behind, now devoid of ants will soon become homes to other critters. If low to the ground, field mice, lizards and beetles lay claim, if higher up, wrens, flying squirrels and grey squirrels will find homes.

My Woodies hatched and raised only one baby this year. The young one visited the feeder today with Mom and Dad. They carefully showed it how to hang on the suet feeder and peck out the goodies. Then off to tree stumps and dead trees to find tastier treats. I look forward to seeing my fine feathered friends as they come to call in the garden knowing that they eat tons of bugs.

It was rainy again today so I spent it indoors making more tomato sauce. Thirteen more jars were added to the shelf, all waiting to become a winter day's meal. No art projects were completed today so I have added a picture of an earlier creation. My youngest son and I make board games to use as gifts and also sell. This is a Chinese Checker set that we made this past December with wooden game pieces and hand-painted dragons. They were big hits as gifts for Christmas!