Gave Chase to a Pileated Woodpecker

[Loupey]

This is what I learned today:

1) All those exceptionally loud "woodpecker" sounds that I always thought were being made by pileateds are not. I tracked the sounds to a plain-jane downy woodpecker cracking his head on a hollowed out, tuned branch

2) Pileated can be found easier by sound rather than sight. After hearing one approach me in the woods, I turned around just in time to see it land on the opposite side of a nearby tree. It immediately scurried up beyond camera range; all the while just peaking around the tree like a squirrel. Tough to track!

3) Pileated "woodpeck" very slowly, deliberately, and almost silently (at least this one). She would move her head side to side to triangulate the exact location of her prey, then break apart the bark with great efficiently in a more of a peck/prying motion than a straight-forward pecking.

4) People look really frightened when they suddenly catch sight of a photographer off-trail running up towards them while trying to keep up with a pileated in flight

I followed this female from tree to tree to tree until it found a bug feast. I got to within 40'. Not the angle I would have chosen but I was ecstatic.

thanks for looking.