Guess Who Came to Dinner

Guess who came to Thanksgiving Dinner.

......suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -
                                                          Only this and nothing more."
                                                  The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe

Thanksgiving afternoon I heard a tapping. It wasn't loud, gentle you might say. I looked out the deck door to see if maybe a turkey was pecking on the deck. Looked out the garage door to see if we had a visitor. No one was outside the kitchen. Then I went to the front and looked out our door to the airlock. There, gently tapping on the outside of the airlock window was a pileated woodpecker!

What a treat. I saw one about 3 weeks ago but only briefly in the trees. A few fleeting sightings a year on our property is about average. To have one come calling was a wonderful Thanksgiving surprise.

(I apologize for the lousy photo. I was more interested in watching him than trying to get the shot.)