I’m sitting outside with a cup of coffee, the Sunday paper and the Dope as the sun rises. There’s a woodpecker who has discovered that the metal flashing on a chimney 20 feet away from me (the downward slope puts its about level with me) is much louder than a wood tree.
So I have a Delta Blues Woodpecker, who’s transitioned from a wooden tree to a metal resonator tree
A quick Google suggests that this is mating behavior, and loudness is the big male show for woodpeckers. I suppose no different that a teenager driving by with a boomin’ system. Oy. Get off my chimney.
Ouch. One aspect of life in Los Angeles that I don’t much miss is having kids regularly drive past with gigawatt subwoofers that can be heard from the other side of the valley. Doing so at 4 am probably only enhances their self-perceived prestige. What these kids - like your big-beaked friend - really need is a little paternal guidance in the form of a gently-administered precision RPG strike. “I’m sorry, son, but this is for your own good.”
You can apply his attractive stripy feathers as festive ornaments on your new chimney.
Slap a stamp on his butt and send him over here! I love woodpeckers - even the ones who hammer on the gutters. And as araminty says, they’re lots of fun to photograph.
