Year of the Woodpecker

Forget the Chinese calendar -- 2005 was the Year of the Woodpecker.

The discovery of the ivory-billed in Arkansas was cause for celebration all over and champagne was broken out under this roof.

But woodpeckers of all kinds are interesting. So says the pile-driving pileated that has been my alarm clock the past few mornings. I don't begrudge him. I rise and look for him in the woods below my lawn. I don't have to look far for that tall, rosy-cheeked redhead hammering busily away.

He's easy to spot, but some woodpeckers are harder to see, like the diminutive downy -- North America's most common woodpecker. But there's one on my woodsy horizon now, pecking away on a locust snag.

When I lived in Arizona, one of my favorite birds was the acorn woodpecker -- a bird that lives in colonies of a dozen or more.This noisy, boisterous bird behaves like juvenile delinquents, but with their white eyes and distinct, clown-like markings, they remain on my list of favorites.

The downy has flown, the pileated has gone quiet, a jay is complaining and the mourning doves are aligning like musical notes in the large white pine on my property's edge.

It's such a nice way to start the day.

I think I'll find some nice homemade suet recipes.