A shy highway guy

How many times have I stalked the wild pileated woodpecker through the woods, gliding as silently as possible to avoid scaring one away? And how many times has the majestic bird fled before I could get close enough to snap a decent photo? And how many times have expert birders sympathized by reminding me that pileated woodpeckers are notoriously shy and reclusive?

Hundreds of times. Okay, slight exaggeration, but still: I've come honestly by the conviction that the only way I would ever see a pileated woodpecker was fleetingly, blurrily, from a distance.

Ha!

Today I was driving toward one of the busier intersections in Marietta, where Colegate Drive descends a steep hill to meet State Route 60 just where the highway squeezes between the hill and the river. I had seen a bald eagle atop a tree not far from there Sunday morning, so I had tossed the camera bag in the car with me first thing this morning in hopes of seeing the eagle again.

But that was this morning. By the time I came driving down Colegate this afternoon, I had given up on seeing anything interesting and I had switched my mind to autopilot mode, so it's a wonder that I even noticed the pileated woodpecker directly in front of me halfway up a tree on the other side of the intersection, closer to the river.

Well what could I do? I squealed to a stop at the gas station on the corner, grabbed the camera, and got as close to the highway as I could to watch the busy bird and snap some pictures. There's no sidewalk on the river side of the road or even a decent shoulder--nothing but highway, curb, guardrail, and river. So I stayed on the opposite side of the road and took photos as traffic permitted. Occasionally a truck would spoil my view, but the only way to get any closer to the bird would have been to stand in the middle of the road, which would be a real birdbrain move.

The bird did not seem at all bothered by the noise of traffic streaming by or the smell of exhaust. What happened to "notoriously shy and reclusive"? This bird wouldn't have been bothered if the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade had passed by--admittedly an unlikely event in Marietta, Ohio.

I wanted to jump up and down and wave my arms at the passing cars--"Stop! Look! You're missing the show!" But I didn't want to become the show, so I packed up my camera and went home.

The woodpecker, the last I saw, was still halfway up that tree next to the highway, pecking away obliviously. Notoriously shy? Ha!