Starting week two of our bird-a-day challenge. This is probably the last woodpecker in my series - the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest of our local species. My field notes describe observing a female foraging on a stump while I walked a trail in a local preserve on September 25th.

Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus,
King Riverside Conservation Area, Tolland Connecticut

January really is a tough time for birding, in Connecticut anyway. The birds take cover when the wind picks up, when the sun starts to sink, when a jay calls, when a hawk cruises overhead. This doesn't affect this artist too much, but it's a different matter for the photographer... The Northern Harrier is one of the few birds Jorge sees just about every day, and today she was the only bird available for a photo!

Northern Harrier, Circus hudsonius
Horsebarn Hill, UConn campus, Storrs-Mansfield Connecticut