I forced myself to get out for a run today. This was my reward! I can’t believe how close he let me get. I may have gotten closer if I didn’t slip at the end of the video.
A Few Pileated Woodpecker Facts
They are not migratory.
Pairs stay together all year.
They are territorial. (Hear territorial drumming in video below.)
Their territorial drumming consists of burst of 11 to 30 taps in less than one second.
They make rectangular holes and nest in them.
They do not reuse nesting holes from year to year, but other animals use the woodpecker’s abandoned holes.
We had been watching the ripening progress of our first strawberry for the past few days. It was ready for picking this morning. But some rat bastard had already eaten part of it.
*** 6/17/2020 – UPDATE: It wasn’t a rat that ate it. I was a squirrel. I saw one of then in the act. ***
I wish you could smell these! We have been waiting for these lilac flowers to open. They have no scent until they open. Not even a tiny bit leaks out. But when they open, they are delicious. I had been telling my little boy about how wonderful these flowers smell. These are one of mom’s favorites. Today, when I showed them how they had bloomed and I inhaled deeply with my nose to the pedals, he leaned forward and forcefully exhaled through his nose. It’s hard to smell anything that way, kid!
This picture was taken at 2:26 PM. He had rained off and on through the morning. The sky was dark and windy most of the day so far.
Oh no! Sleet in my plants!
From Spring to Winter in an Hour
No long after I took the lilac picture, the wind really whipped up. Then sleet came pelting out of the sky! Sleet? IN MAY???? Nothing has sprouted in those pots yet. So I’m thinking this won’t effect the plants. But really… sleet in May?
This picture of sleet was taken at 4:08 PM.
Next…
Heat Wave
We Interrupt This Season to Take You to Summer
At 4:47 PM, 39 minutes after the picture of sleet in my flower pots, it was nearly 70 degrees! I know what you might be thinking. No, that was not hail (,Mary,) in those pots. It was legitimately cold. It was sleet. There was even some snow mixed in with the sleet. True, we get hail with storms in the summertime. But this was not hail.
Strange Day
This was a strange day in the midst of strange days. The pandemic. Everyone wearing face masks in public. Most stores still closed. Most people not going anywhere, just staying home. It all feels so strange.
