How Not to Wake Up: Nature’s Alarm Clock
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Each morning for over a week, we’ve awoken (far too early, I might add) to a hammering sound coming from somewhere outside. On the first day, I assumed that someone in the neighborhood was doing some sort of construction work. The sound continued every subsequent morning, however, and Leah determined that it was far too rhythmic to be human in origin. Sure enough, yesterday morning she spotted the source. A woodpecker has decided that the metal shielding on the utility pole in front of our house is the perfect place to sound its daily rat-a-tat-tat. I took out the camera and got a few shots of it throughout the morning.
It’s a beautiful bird, but a terrible ruckus.
Update: My Clarence classmate Greg Coniglio, an avid birder and wonderful bird photographer, identified it as a yellow-bellowed sapsucker. Thanks, Greg! Even better, he says they are “passing through” at this time of year, so we may get some sleep yet. See Greg’s photos at his blog, aptly titled “Greg’s Blog“
