Ave Avis

The woodpeckers have been raucous today. I'm unable to determine if they are delighted or angry. It's hard to tell with woodpeckers. Their tone seldom varies. This afternoon they have been squawking mostly in one pine tree or another, though now and then a few will visit the utility pole in front of my house. They don't appear to be fighting, so maybe they're just happy, but I can't tell why.

I haven't heard any hammering, so I don't think they have any acorns to harvest and store yet, though I have see a couple of small acorns on the ground. I think the fallen acorns are weaklings that fell prematurely. The full crop won't be ready for a few weeks yet. Then the woodpeckers will get really raucous.

We used to have a couple of pyracantha bushes in the yard, and there was something in the berries that got birds high when they ate them. Lots of things are ripening now, and I'm wondering if the woodpeckers have eaten something with psychoactive properties. It's possible that I'm watching the results of a bird binge of some sort. If so, I wish I could get some of whatever it is. It might help pass the sultry late summer evening, after the entertaining birds have retired for the night.


( Sunday Verse )