On Christmas morning, I saw a Pileated Woodpecker on Manning Ave. We have a little family joke going on about these birds. Before my mother died she had arranged her funeral, and got everything else organized and then sent me a letter saying “now I’m ready to die – on no! I haven’t ever seen a Pileated Woodpecker.” Someone told her they had seen one in the sugar bush at Upper Canada Village (mum lived in Cornwall) so she took her deck chair and a book to read and sat out in the woods hoping to see one. No luck and she never did see one – although I sent her a photo of one I had in my backyard. My younger daughter who lives in Jasper saw one of these birds in her backyard this past year and took a picture and emailed it to me with this message; “If you believe in reincarnation, I think I saw grandma in our backyard!” Now when I see one of these woodpeckers I think about my mother. It was a nice Christmas present.
Location: Manning Avenue, Peterborough
Observer: Fran Cormode
