Giant woodpecker

It's not the best of photos, but double clicking on it will give more details. I had suspected that we had a large woodpecker in the forest around the house. I could hear an amazingly loud tapping on the trees but we attributed the noise to the hollowness of the trunk rather than the size of the bird. The regular woodpeckers come to the feeders frequently and hang in their ungainly fashion using their tail for support under the feeder just to take advantage of the morning offerings. And then this morning as I am writing I see a flash of red across the shores of the lake close to the house. The red was so bright, I caught it from the corner of my eye. I looked out through the window and could see this form pecking at the tree. My camera was close at hand and not wanting to scare the bird away, I snapped the photo with the zoom lens through the window. This explains the fuzziness of the picture.

A giant woodpecker, rarely seen in our parts, was feeding on a spruce tree. It measures up to 2 feet long and when in flight, which I was about to see subsequently, the wingspan is impressive. The red head was fiery in colour. Madame was not far. It is mating season. I crept out of the double doors in the studio in the hopes of catching a better look and maybe a clearer photo, but my presence disturbed them and both male and female flew away in a flurry of feather and wing. A beautiful moment and a reminder of the privilege of living in such natural surroundings.