Pileated woodpeckers provide welcome interruptions

I have escaped to my family’s cabin for a few days. 

 

As I may have mentioned before, the cabin is a small, rustic one located at the end of a winding one-lane road which meanders up and down hills through a thoroughly wooded area. There are eight or so cabins along the road, but based on the undisturbed nature of the snow, my brother, son and I are apparently the first group to be here in a month or two.

Our arrival was something of an adventure.

 

We turned onto our road at about 4 in the afternoon. We had committed to arriving before dark because we were uncertain what we would find. Turns out, we were very wise. As we came to the last half of the road and headed up a hill, we encountered snow probably a foot deep. Between the incline and the snow, it was more than my vehicle could manage.

After brave efforts to power through by backing up and taking a run, we found ourselves at a dead stop about 200 feet short of the cabin. Part of those 200 feet is a fairly steep walking path. We trudged down to the cabin seeking footing in the snow.

 

My brother and son went back up with shovels and determinedly got the car to a parking spot next to the neighbor’s garage, still at the top of the hill.

 

The prospect of bringing all our gear down that angled path was disheartening, so we called a nearby neighbor we are acquainted with who had informed us he has a tractor and snow blower, and would be willing to help us at times like this.

 

When we called, we had the remarkable good fortune that he was both at home and available to assist. In what seemed like no time, he was backing up and down our hilly little road throwing that troublesome snow in among the trees.

 

It was a welcome sight.

 

When we offered to pay him, he declined any money. I would have forced some into his hands except for two complications. First, the amount of cash in my wallet seemed insufficient. Even more importantly, he was on his tractor and driving away faster than I could have ever moved through the snow alongside the road. Fortunately, I came upon a solution. The next day, I bought and delivered a gift card to a popular local restaurant.

When he again stated payment was unnecessary, I told him we wanted to thank him–that we were riding on a wave of gratitude which grows higher each time we are able to walk out of the cabin and directly to the vehicle, rather than plodding up and down the snowy pathway with every armload.

 

There are many pleasant aspects to being at the cabin in winter. Because my brother and son are here to fish, I have the space to myself much of the time. When I am finished with writing and editing, I see myself curled up in a cozy chair with a book.

 

My hours are peppered with an element of nerdy excitement, however. A pair of pileated woodpeckers has been visiting the (now refilled) birdfeeder fairly regularly.

 

I enjoy all birds and can name numerous species I regularly see at my feeders at home. Here in the forest, the first birds to discover the food were pine grosbeaks, birds about the size of a robin. The males are distinctively pink, the females only less visibly so. 

 

But there’s something exciting about seeing a pileated woodpecker. They’re quite large–with a wingspan of about two feet–and have a bold red cap and crest on their heads. Their necks are also marked with sharply defined areas of black, red and white.

 

In summer they eat ants, often using their strong beaks to burrow into trees to capture food. The burrowing is sometimes so deep the (partially rotten) tree will break.

 

All the work I’ve been doing on my computer over the past two days has been interrupted by occasional leaps to my feet as I notice the variety of birds coming and going outside. By the time you read this, I will already be on home territory. I have the feeling, though, my thoughts will still be at the cabin.