Pileated Woodpecker

This fellow is our biggest woodpecker up here in God's Country. He's the pileated woodpecker and he's about the size of a crow. He is a very skittish bird and chances to photograph him are rare and also the reason I couldn't get a good side or frontal shot of him. He tried to perch on my feeder but couldn't grip the wire guard to reach the seeds so he flew to a birdhouse to think. He is often seen on a wooden power pole pecking away, for what reason I'm not sure but maybe it's just to hear himself. In the woods he can scare the daylights out of you when he flies overhead cackling and screaching in his shrill call. In the mating season his favorite site is a hollow tree so he can peck out a stacatto beat which echoes throughout the woods for miles. I'm sure the ladies love it. This particular one has been around for quite a few years; or at least I think it's the same one but I suppose it could be his offspring. Anyway, he's a beautiful additon to the woods and I always feel good when I see him around. Chris