<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p><font size="+1">Good morning all. This morning I had a visit
from a female Pileated Woodpecker again, and I thought I would
comment on the situation.</font></p>
<p><font size="+1">We had to remove a crab apple tree a few years
back, and left about 8" of stump above ground at the time. At
first I used it to hold a birdbath top, and eventually it began
rotting enough that I could no longer do that. Pileated
woodpeckers--usually a male--that sometimes visited my feeder
near it began to chop away at the stump. We believe it had
carpenter ants, and the birds were finding lots of large larva
to feed on. Last fall it had rotted away enough that we took a
maul to the remainder of the stump and removed it to below
ground level. Mulch was raked over the top, and no sight of the
stump remained. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font size="+1">Now I am getting a visit maybe once a week from a
female Pileated. She backs down the power pole on the
boulevard, then flies to the front yard where the stump was.
She begins by excavating to the point that she can find some
remnants of the stump--at this point, making a trough in the
mulch and soil almost to the depth that her body is fully at
ground level. Then she begins to pound away below ground at the
stump/roots, searching for food. At times, her head is
completely out of sight below ground, like the famed Ostrich
with the head buried. She works at this for 10 to 15 minutes
before moving on. In between her visits we rake the soil/mulch
back level, but she always returns to the spot. It is
facinating that these birds can remember where to find food even
when the source is no longer obvious. <br>
</font></p>
<p><font size="+1">Cindy in North Mankato</font><br>
</p>
<div id="DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2">
<br /><br />
<hr style='border:none; color:#909090; background-color:#B0B0B0; height: 1px; width: 99%;' />
<table style='border-collapse:collapse;border:none;'>
<tr>
<td style='border:none;padding:0px 15px 0px 8px'>
<a href="https://www.avast.com/antivirus">
<img border=0 src="https://static.avast.com/emails/avast-mail-stamp.png" alt="Avast logo" />
</a>
</td>
<td>
<p style='color:#3d4d5a; font-family:"Calibri","Verdana","Arial","Helvetica"; font-size:12pt;'>
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
<br><a href="https://www.avast.com/antivirus">www.avast.com</a>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br />
<a href="#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2" width="1" height="1"> </a></div></body>
</html>