We heard the quick tapping sound long before we saw the source. A woodpecker was busy nearby. We stopped and listened, hoping for a glimpse of the industrious avian.
Before long we saw it flying through the trees. After a few minutes, Woody perched in the tree in front of us. It was a treat to see this tiny driller.
The hairy and downy woodpecker with its black and white plumage, blends with the birch tree trunks, but his drilling gives him away. He doesn't stay long in any one spot, just long enough to stir up some memories for us.
We had a different encounter with woodpeckers years ago when our daughter was eighteen months old. She'd had surgery and my husband and I were exhausted and relieved when she recovered, so we had a few days vacation while his parents looked after her. We spent a weekend at their cottage, our first time away from our daughter. We looked forward to sleeping in for the first time since her birth.
At 6:00 a.m. the first morning there, we were startled awake by a loud drill-like vibration on the outside of our bedroom wall. It sounded as if a tap was followed by echo vibrations before the next tap. It continued for several minutes. While our daughter didn't rouse us out of bed early that morning, a woodpecker saw that we didn't sleep in. There were woodpeckers in the woods around the cottage that weekend. We swore we could hear them jeering us, just like the character in the old cartoon.
People of a certain age will remember Woody Woodpecker cartoons by Walter Lanz and Ben Hardaway. We grew up with those cartoons and Woody's distinctive "voice."
Now, you can have Woody's greeting as a ringtone for your phone.
While we enjoy watching woodpeckers today, we'll just say, "No, thank you," to that ringtone.