I had a hairy woodpecker munching on black mulberries this morning in my
yard.

Also, while working in the garden, the yard birds began congregating and
making an awful lot of noise in the top of a solitary white pine in the
yard.  The tree is about 30 feet tall and I have cut off the branches for
the first 15 feet.  There was a Baltimore oriole, a cat bird, 6 robins and
around 6 grackles all mobbing something.  I hoped for a perched owl but I
could not spot any.  After about 5 minutes, a 6 foot black snake began a
leisurely trip down from the crown of the tree.  Amazing that it could make
it up that high ... even more amazing was its 'controlled' descent.

Jim Wilson
Queenstown