Pileated woodpecker

I heard the powerful "Eck... eck... eck... eck..." calls through the walls of the house, and as I looked outside on a gray morning, I spotted a male Pileated Woodpecker at the base of one of our oaks. I don't know what he was doing there, but by the time I grabbed my camera and, as quietly as possible, raced outside, he was about 20 feet up the same tree. The crow-sized bird was still calling, and deeper in the forest, I saw another Pileated, perhaps a potential mate, perhaps a potential rival. We've had lots of visits this winter from these striking woodpeckers, and there's plenty of evidence of their excavations in search of carpenter ants. There are also several places that look like the start of nests. The possibility that we might bear witness to a new Pileated generation is beyond wonderful.