ENJOYING HER SUMAC is this female pileated woodpecker, which was captured on camera by Fran Pope during the recent annual May bird count. Pope, who is the coordinator of the local count, was parked across the road from a field observing another bird when the woodpecker swooped in and landed on the sumac.
"She ate the fruit for over five minutes before flying into a tree directly over my car, where she pounded on a branch before flying into the woods giving her very loud call," said Pope, noting that the pileated is the largest woodpecker breeding in the county, measuring about 16 inches in length. "Their feeding strategies change with the seasons, and in addition to the ants and beetle larvae taken all year, a long list of fruit and mast of wild nuts is also eaten when available, including several species of sumac," She said. Complete results of the May bird count in Garrett County can be found elsewhere on the site.