A white forest pauses time. Nature’s Drummers

A white forest pauses time.

The air is sharp, the trail unknown. 

Each step warms the soul. Come outside. 

Winter is meant to be walked.

 Coming Together 

Whispers, raps, and flashes of red and white. Every tree has a story, every bird a beat. 

Five woodpeckers, one forest, one thrilling adventure. Snow-lined paths glow softly. 

The chill tests you. The beauty keeps you. 

Dress warm, step out—December is a Christmas card you can enter. 

Pileated Woodpecke 

Home in a Dead Tree Wood chips rain down. A hole grows deeper. T

his bird raises its young inside dead trees most others ignore. 

Protect the dead wood—and you protect life.

 “Pileated” comes from the Latin pileatus, meaning “capped,” and refers to having a prominent crest covering the top of the head. 

The Forest Drummer A

 red crest explodes into view—THUNK. The biggest woodpecker on the continent pounds dead trees for ants, mates, and space.

 Leave the snags, and the forest keeps its beat. 

 

Come to Nature Come to Life. 

 

 Downy Woodpecker 

Winter Teamwork 

Snow falls. Chickadees gather. 

Downy slips into the flock, sharing alarms and meals. Safety comes from staying together. 

 

Split the Tree One tree, two strategies.

 Males take the twigs, females work the trunk. No overlap—just efficiency. 

 

 Come to Nature Come to Life. 

 Hairy Woodpecker Winter Doesn’t Stop Him Snow on the bark. Silence breaks—rat-tat-rat. 

Still hunting beetle larvae when others quit. Seventy-five percent insects, even in winter. 

 Forest Tag Two birds spiral a trunk, wings flicking, calls sharp. Is it a fight—or flirting? 

With Hairy Woodpeckers, courtship sounds like thunder. 

Come to Nature Come to Life. 

 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 

Morse Code in the Woods Tap. Pause. Tap-tap. 

Not random—this woodpecker drums in rhythm to claim space and signal mates. 

Learn the code, and you’ll hear them everywhere. 

The Woodpecker That Must Migrate Winter freezes the sap. Silence falls. 

Unlike most woodpeckers, this one must leave to survive. When the trees stop flowing, so does he.

 Come to Nature Come to Life. 

 Northern Flicker Flash and Vanish 

A quiet bird lifts off— sudden white rump, glowing wings, gone. That flash is the flicker’s signature. 

Dirtpecker Logic Beetles underground. Ants by the thousands. 

Why cling to bark? Northern Flickers dig where the food lives. 

 

Come to Nature Come to Life. 

Nature’s Drummers A sudden rap breaks the quiet. Wood chips scatter, hearts race. 

Five drummers of the woods, performing their forest symphony. 

Flight and Memory 

A final tap, a flash of color, the forest stills. 

Five friends of the trees leave trails of life. The rhythm, the colors, the joy—they stay with you.

 

 Come to Nature Come to Life. 

Snow sparkles. Breath clouds.

 The trail feels quiet, almost empty. Your boots crunch. The forest waits. 

Step outside—winter turns every walk into a living Christmas card. 

 Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. 

https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com/ friendsafforestation@gmail.com www.friendsareas.ca 

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 Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com/ friendsafforestation@gmail.com www.friendsareas.ca