Woodpecker III

12-15-10 SHORT HILLS: With about a week until the solstice, we’re back in the deep freeze as of yesterday. All the puddles left by the rain storm are now frozen patches. Yesterday morning there was a light dusting of snow which evaporated by noon in spite of the cold. This mornings ‘feel like’ temp is 9°. Even parts of the Passaic River, which we frequently cross on our daily outings, were frozen yesterday.

As a teen I remember skating parties on the river, but that doesn’t happen any more. It wasn’t very wide, but you could go a long way up or down stream. There were thin spots over rapids that needed to be avoided.

I haven’t seen any other kinds of woodpeckers here this week, but did find a picture of this Pileated Woodpecker from the Corkscrew Preserve near Naples, FL from our trip there last February. Pileated BTW means ‘capped’. These are crow sized birds. The males have a red moustache, making this one a lady.