Pileated Woodpecker In The Pine Grove

 Today, I took the camera to the pine grove, hoping to find the Great Horned Owl family (post linked here). I couldn't find any of the owls at either area. They used to spend the day in a little clearing of snags, but they recently have moved to the area closer to the Fox Den. The fox den by the way has proven inactive: Neither foxes nor coyotes have had babies in it. 

As I began walking with my camera to check the second area, something dove from a tree and started calling. A pileated woodpecker. It only flew maybe 40 feet before landing on another tree. The bird was running up and down each tree trunk, examining each one for signs of carpenter ants or beetle larva I assume. I followed behind it. I must have followed it for 5 minutes, and was completely satisfied with what I had taken. I tried viewing one of them:

                                                                            "No Card". 

That was frustrating. I fortunately had a spare card in a trail cam that I had left in my backpack. The woodpecker is more important to me than getting footage of another raccoon. I found the woodpecker a second time. She hadn't gone far. I could finally start taking REAL photos...

Eventually, She started pecking at a knot in one of the pines which had sap dripping from it. I saw it using it's long tongue, and it was definately eating something. Probably pine beetle larvae. I couldn't really tell. 

I can tell that this is a female because of the black stripe that is on either side of her head, located just behind her lower beak. On a male, this band would be red. Both males and females have a bright red crest, which, combines with their large size and rarity makes them a great species to photograph. While following her, I used my cameras video camera setting. Not the best quality, but I thought I should include it:

While I did not see a nest, I've seen plenty of snags (dead, standing pine trees) in the pine grove, and the nearby forest, and it is early June, so she's probably feeding chicks. Pileated woodpeckers dig nesting cavities into trees, which can be as deep as 2 feet and on average house 4 chicks. Fledging occurs in late summer. I hope I find a nest.