Totally captivated in 2007 by the live camera feed of the Hornby Island nesting Bald Eagles in B.C., I was drawn into birding and have never looked back. Thus begins my account of what I'm fortunate enough to discover each day and perhaps capture with my camera.



Unless otherwise stated, all images were taken by and are the property of Janice Melendez

Species Counts:

2014 Final Year List: 255; 2015 Year List a/o June 5, 2015: 235; Life List: 327

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Crime Scene, then Crime Seen


For several weeks now my mom and I have been speculating on the identity of what's been peeling the bark off our hemlock tree at the front of the cottage. Some of our theories included skunks, raccoons, or even porcupines, as they all share a diet of insects that reside in the trees.

Yesterday the mystery of our hemlock was solved, but first let's look at the crime scene:















Then the crime was seen, in broad daylight, no less!

Here's our perp, on our hemlock... da noive!







...hemlock bark was flying everywhere, this female Pileated, probably the same one from Friday, was oblivious to my presence, the shameless hussy!





...she made her way up the tree. This was the closest ever that I've been to one of these crow-sized black woodpeckers:










...she took a break on a neighbour's fence, still paying no attention to me whatsoever, even though she had been caught in the act! Nyah, nyah, nyah!





...she then flew over to some cedars on another neighbour's lot and proceeded to rip away at the bark for insects:










Her prior crime sprees, no doubt with some accomplices over the years, include the following excavations in the area:















The next three shots are from one poor cedar that's hanging on by a thread. If you look through some of these holes at the right angle, you can see daylight on the other side!!















...she fled on wing before I could catch her to make a positive ID, arghhhhh



WHEN WILL IT EVER STOP??




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