We were walking the dog in a completely deserted Frisinger Park this afternoon when I looked up into a tree and saw what must have been a downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) doing a strange little woodpecker dance as it hung onto one of the branches of the tree with its feet and circled the branch 360 degrees, stopping to quietly drill every few seconds. First time I’d ever seen a woodpecker up close. It really didn’t seem at all alarmed by our presence, completely ignoring us for a minute or more before it finally winged off to a higher branch on the tree. Amazing.
