Hi Bernard, Wow, so sorry to hear they are doing this for nesting, especially with plenty of trees to choose from.
When they excavated your chaise/chimney wood, did they actually get into your chimney area? and is your fireplace a wood-burning or gas? My husband installs fireplaces for a living and he can't imagine what type of shelf or structure they found inside to nest on...?? Sometimes insects, such as carpenter ants will be the culprit if your WP's are pecking for food- the WP's are a great alarm call that something much worse is doing silent-but-deadly damage on your house than the Woody's...although it seems worse with their pecking because of the damage that is actually seen. With mating season approaching also, could it be they are "drumming" to call your home their territory but unfortunately doing damage in the process? We had trouble at our cabin with pine log siding 2 years ago....my suet feeders were empty from not being able to get up there and replenish the suet, and the WP's discovered the "white polka-dots" on our siding which are actually Daddy log-legged spider eggs. We found that "Home Defense" sold at Menards or Fleet Farm is a great remedy to spray the perimeter of your whole house in the Spring, the first 3 feet from the ground (deck posts too). Daddy LL's won't crawl up then and no more polka-dot home. Have you seen any silky/fuzzy white spots in this area they are attacking? Cathy Gagliardi St. Paul, MN ----- Original Message ----- From: Bernard P. Friel To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:34 PM Subject: Re: [mou-net] Pileated Woodpecker - Dakota County I have a pair of Pileateds I'd like to place for adoption. Though I'm surrounded by woods with an abundance of suitable trees, they seem to prefer attempting to peck out a nest in the roof or fireplace chase of our home...last year to the tune of several hundred $ for repairs...and they are back and looking for a place to raise another brood. Any suggestions. -- Bernard P. Friel Web Pages - http://www.wampy.com ; http://www.wampy.com/bn Owl Gallery http://www.wampy.com/bn2 Songbirds http://www.wampy.com/GalapagosGallery http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=1113 > From: Jeanie Joppru <[email protected]> > Reply-To: Jeanie Joppru <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 19:52:22 -0600 > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: [mou-net] Pileated Woodpecker - Dakota County > > This sighting was called in to the Detroit Lakes hotline. > > Cathy Porter-Maynard of Hastings, MN in Dakota County reported a female > Pileated Woodpecker at a suet feeder in their yard in mid-January. The > Maynard's have a half acre lot in the heart of Hastings. The lot has several > trees and they have worked to create a habitat for birds. They have had a > pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in the past. > > > > Jeanie Joppru > Pennington County, MN > > > > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
