Nice of these 2 to stop by

Big excitement out the front window today.  

For only the second time in my life, I got to see a Red Headed Woodpecker.  It was a little crazy because the first bird that caught my eye was a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker and when I grabbed the camera and stepped to the window, the YBSS was hiding partially behind a tree, then this guy caught my eye.  He was posing right in plain view.  

The only other sighting that I have had of this bird was at Buena Vista overlook at Alma, WI.

Whatta day.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-headed_Woodpecker/id#

Red-headed Woodpeckers breed in deciduous woodlands with oak or beech, groves of dead or dying trees, river bottoms, burned areas, recent clearings, beaver swamps, orchards, parks, farmland, grasslands with scattered trees, forest edges, and roadsides. During the start of the breeding season they move from forest interiors to forest edges or disturbed areas. Wherever they breed, dead (or partially dead) trees for nest cavities are an important part of their habitat. In the northern part of their winter range, they live in mature stands of forest, especially oak, oak-hickory, maple, ash, and beech. In the southern part, they live in pine and pine-oak. They are somewhat nomadic; in a given location they can be common one year and absent the next.

The first bird I saw was this Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.
He played a little hide & seek game with me.

When the Red Headed Woodpecker flew off, the YBSS followed.  

I wonder if they were traveling together?

Nice of them to stop by.

❤

Dean Johansen, childhood friend / no relation, remembered a story from his youth about how the RHWP got its red head, here is what I found....

There was once an old woman who lived deep in the forest. She lived in a little cabin on a hill all alone. She was a small, selfish, old woman who thought only of herself. On a long cold winter’s night she tended to her hearth fire and baked cakes with dough. Suddenly, a stranger wandered in from the woods. The man had tattered clothes, a long walking staff, and seemed to be tired. The traveler looked to the woman and said, “Hello, may I please have something to eat? I have been wandering all day and am exhausted. It has been a very cold winter and I am very hungry.” The selfish woman looked at him and with little hesitation turned him away. He left to brave the cold for another night, but returned the next day, saying, “Please, may I have something small to eat? I am cold. I am tired. I am very hungry.” Begrudgingly, the old woman took a tiny pinch of dough and put it into the oven. As the dough baked, it became bigger and bigger until it was the largest of all her cakes. She pulled it out of the oven and said to the man, “Oh, this will not do. It is too good for you. It is far too big.” The old woman set the large cake aside. She took another smaller piece of dough and put it in the oven. As it baked, it grew bigger and bigger until it was even larger than the last cake. The woman looked at it, confused, and decided again to keep it for herself. She took an even smaller piece of dough, this time the size of a pinhead, and put it into the oven. While baking, this tiny piece of dough grew to be the largest cake of them all. Annoyed, the old woman put all the cakes aside for herself. She went to her pantry and from the very bottom shelf, she grabbed old pieces of crust for the traveler. “Here,” she said, “You can have this.” The old man took the crust and looked at the woman saying, “You selfish woman! The dough you baked was too good for me? I am the spirit of the forest. You should be very ashamed.” The woman looked at the wandering traveler and was taken-aback. The spirit took his walking staff and cracked it over the woman’s head, turning her into a bird. The blood runs down her head and turns her feathers red. He says, “You will fly for the rest of your days through the forest and live with your shame.” Thus the red-headed woodpecker was born. Legend says, if you ever see a red-headed woodpecker it will always move to the opposite side of the tree because he is embarrased.

Wow.