I didn't make it to the trails but I have a good excuse.  A pileated woodpecker glided into the yard from a nearby treetop.  It landed on a suet feeder and proceeded to peck at the block of seedy fat.

Opportunities like that do not happen everyday so I had to take advantage of the moment to watch that beauty in action.  I was amazed at how such a large bird can cling to the underside of the metal cage for as long as it did.  It's large beak created a shower of suet crumbs that fell to the ground.

I got some photos as it rotated around the feeder; showing off its bright red cap at many different angles.  After looking at the photos and comparing them to the diagrams in a book, I determined that this was a female pileated woodpecker that visited today.  It may have been the same one that I witnessed at the suet feeder on a previous occasion.  She appeared to be quite adept at hanging upside down.

After reading through the article in the book, I learned that the male has a red mustache.  I took a look at some of my other photos and was surprised to see that I had a photo of a male/female pair in my yard.  That, not only was the first time that I had seen two of them together on fence posts, side by side but it was the first time that I had seen a 'couple'.  

I've been whining about not seeing the grosbeaks and the redpolls this winter.  To my surprise I read a recent article about the local bird count and apparently, I am not the only one that is not seeing them.  Winter is not over. They may still arrive.  I won't give up hope just yet.