P.S. I just figured out why poets are encouraged to write cinquains. It’s to make sure they don’t ramble on too much.
Five lines with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables respectively.
The squirrels have been harvesting hazelnuts from the trees and hiding them to be retrieved in the winter.
Along comes Woodrow the Woodpecker, innocently looking for bugs.
Ronald Rabbit knows the squirrels wouldn’t like their stash to be unearthed, but, “What to do? What to do?”
“Mind your own business, Ronald,” says Woodrow. “That’s “What to do’!”
“I’m telling,” shouts Ronald. “The people will let their dog out and then you’ll be sorry.” Meanwhile, I have one leg raised and ready to make a run for it.
“Look out, you guys! Here I come. And don’t forget! I may be a teddy bear in the house, but I’m a wolverine in the field.”
“Are you serious?” Woodrow calls to Ronald. “Now that the dog is out, we’ll all have to make a run for it.”
“Aw, do what you want. I’m going up here to higher ground and — oh! What have we here? A hole in the tree. Anybody home?”
And so life goes on … unless you’re a bug in that tree.
When it’s hard times with cold, wet weather, and not yet warm bug season, birds will take advantage of what’s available and not be too fussy.
“Ooh!” says Pam. “I see that handsome Patrick. See his red cheek slash? So manly!”
“Oh, Patrick! Do you like my little red Christmas hat?”
“Meh – it’s not bad, I guess,” says Patrick. “Wanna come down here and get some bugs out of this stump?”
“Actually, I think I see some at the end of this raised bed,” says Pam.
“Hmm. I guess that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. I’m not very good at this dating stuff.”
“Hmpf! Pam is playing hard-to-get. I’ll show her…as soon as I get that pesky bug off my shoulder…. Maybe she thinks I have dandruff.”
P is for Pam and Patrick the pileated woodpeckers. I’m sure they’ll find each other eventually.
I see something wiggling around in there. I need my breakfast so…. I guess I’ll peck away at it.
Here I go. It’s sure hard work to get a bite to eat. I wonder what I’ll find.
ACK! Beetle grubs and ants? You expect me to eat THAT?
Oh, well. I’m hungry and beggars can’t be choosers.
Folks, I want you to know that this year it has been great to visit Anneli’s garden. It’s quiet (she’s hardly ever out here), and it’s so-o-o-o … shall we say, to be polite … it’s “au naturel.”
She thinks it’s a mess, but to me, it looks better than ever. Bugs are hiding everywhere, under weeds she hasn’t cleared away. A smorgasbord for me!
As a matter of fact, I think I might have one of those little critters on me. “Well, surprise, surprise, little bugs. There’s no free ride on me! You will be on my dinner menu. Heh, heh, heh, haaa-hooo!”
Again, I was in a rush and didn’t get wonderful, clear photos, but you’re all so good at using your imagination and that’s what I’m counting on today.
The woodpeckers were back. It was Pam and what I thought last week was her sister. I’ve had my eyes opened because I got a better look at the “sister.” Turns out, it is most probably her baby, not her sister.
Pam is near the bottom of the tree here, and Junior is above her. Junior’s topknot is not a brilliant red yet, most likely for her own protection. She won’t be such a target for her enemies.
Pam is working hard, pecking open the bark to look for bugs. Junior is still afraid of giving herself a headache so she lets Mom do all the work.
Pam stops mid-peck and looks around.
“Do you see her, Junior?” she asks.
“See who?” Jr. says.
“Whom.”
“What?”
“See whom, not who? … Oh, never mind. Do you see the crazy lady with the camera? She’s always hanging around near the back door, and I thought I heard it open. I don’t mind her, but that black cocker spaniel is always wherever she is, and that dog LOVES birds – and before you say, ‘Oh that’s good,’ let me tell you, ‘No. That mutt likes birds, but not in a good way.'”
“But don’t worry, Junior, we’re safe. Just open your beak. I’ve got a treat for you to make you forget all about that killer dog.”
“LOL! Gimme a break,” says Emma. “Me? Kill a bird? … Well, not a woodpecker, anyway … not today….”
The pecking of beaks on wood just past the fence of my yard sent me running for my camera. I was surprised to see not one, but two pileated woodpeckers. They were a bit shy and one of them disappeared around the back of the tree. I had a glimpse of that bird just long enough to guess that it was a sister of the juvenile pileated woodpecker I could see on the opposite side of the tree. Do you see them there on the tree that is farthest to the left? One on each side of the tree; one about a foot below the other, partly hidden by a leaf.
I know her name is Pam, not Paul, because she doesn’t have the red cheek slash that the boys have. Notice how long her toenails are. Great for hanging on and for hopping up and down on the trunk of these Douglas fir trees. Can you do that?
She was finding little bugs in the bark. I watched her eat some as she came across them. I bet they were surprised to be found, thinking they were safe in the maze of coarse bark.
You can watch Pam at work in these two short videos she allowed me to take. It gave me a headache watching her slam her beak into the bark over and over again. If you watch carefully you might see her nibble at a bug she discovered between beak slammings.
In the next one, watch how she hopped around the bark so easily, hanging on with her sharp toenails.
See you around the neighbourhood, Pam, and thanks for helping keep down the invasion of insects.
wordsfromanneli 