a pair of pileated woodpeckers showed up literally out of the blue this afternoon. The one landed and had its back to me. I didn’t have my glasses so I didn’t notice any red on the head. Once I grabbed my camera and quietly went outside I captured a number of images of a second one that came around. I figure the first was the female and the second is the male. The male has a red mustache that streaks off the end of their mouth or beak.

They like suet and I put out suet to attract the larger birds. Because squirrels also like suet I was gifted a squirrel proof suet cage. Unfortunately the woodpeckers couldn’t eat any suet so off they went in a hurry. I’d say they hung around less than five minutes.

My photography was atrocious. They caught me offguard and I had to switch lenses. My settings were inadequate for the job. But the birds stayed still long enough for me to manage a few good shots. I think these two are the best. No touch up. this is rAW or jPEG Fine.