You can hear them long before you see one. The sound of a tree being chopped down. A Pileated Woodpecker on a dead branch is like a chain saw. Sometimes you can see the pieces of wood being tossed in the air.

My back fence is the start of a small pine forest. While it’s certainly not like a marsh/swamp for photography plenty of critters do live back there.
Not the right gear for these shots, but I didn’t expect to shoot these. The best camera is the one you have with you, or sitting on the porch.
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Stunning shots, Ted. Not always easy to photograph woodpeckers, I find. I hear them out in the local woods, but they are usually too high up the trees or hidden to get a good shot in, so well done.
Thank you. This one was further than I would have liked. Having tall, thick, pines along my backyard gives us something to watch from the back porch. The Owls are the best visitors, but I have yet to get a shot from my house.