Ron McMath and Carolyn Young watched a Pileated Woodpecker looking for bugs on an old apple tree on the Gualala ridge recently. Ron took several photos of this prehistoric-looking bird. Pileateds drill rectangular-shaped holes looking for their favorite food, carpenter ants.

 If you could see this big woodpecker in flight, you'd see its wingspan is nearly thirty inches!

Pileated Woodpeckers have a very distinctive call. You can hear it at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at this link: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/sounds

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's photography, here's the link to his website: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/ron-mcmath.html