Pileated Woodpeckers and Bald Eagle "Fly Over"

Spring? Not yet, but it is coming. In the meantime I'm still feeding the birds. They consume all the sunflower seeds and empty the feeder every day. After four more inches of snow in North Central Indiana, we settled in to another day indoors. The Lord proffered two rare treats.

At least two pileated woodpeckers live in our woods. Being the shy creatures they are, a sighting is a thing of joy. Last year we saw both at the same time. Two days ago, we saw one hammering enormous chunks of wood out of a dead tree. He chipped away at it for several minutes.

Earlier, my husband plowed the drive one more time, parked the equipment in the barn, and drove his truck up to our mailbox at the end of our very long lane. When he returned to the house he told me that he had caught a glimpse of something large as it flew over him and disappeared behind the barn. He thought it was probably a stray goose or a blue heron. Then he had talked to our son and grandson at the mailbox and Jesse was so excited he could hardly speak. Aaron said that they had just seen a bald eagle! That's what my husband had just glimpsed, too!

Exciting for all of them. I was in the wrong place. Several years ago the DNR released several pairs of eagles in the large reservoir area a few miles north of us. It's exciting when they increase their range and do a "fly over" our property.

As a result of DNR release over the years, we now enjoy seeing turkeys, coyotes, and red foxes on our property. Now we can add bald eagles to the list.