I was running behind on my chores and at the top of the list was filling the bird feeders. As I stepped outside of the garage with my bucket of seed and some suet cakes, I heard the raucous chatter of the female Pileated Woodpecker down in the river bottom behind the house.

“CHUK, chuk, chuk, CHUK, chuk, chuk!’ She continued nonstop with her bird grumbling. She was definitely aggravated at something.

As I was filling the suet basket and getting ready to fill the sunflower feeder, the female Pileated Woodpecker flew over.

 “CHUK, chuk, chuk, CHUK, chuk, chuk,” she squawked in flight.

Once the feeders were filled, I pulled out a nearby chair and sat down a few feet away to watch the birds returning to the feeder.

Again, the female Pileated Woodpecker flew over and dipped down over the bird feeding station…. ”CHUK, chuk, chuk, CHUK, chuk, chuk,” she loudly continued.

I knew it was unlikely the bird would come to the suet blocks with me sitting there, so I packed up my stuff and headed for the garage.

Once inside the house, I glanced out the living room window to see the female Pileated feeding on the suet cakes. Looking closer, I saw why she was upset, and as it turns out, she was upset at me! Firstly, I had let the feeder run out of suet. Secondly, she had a guest she waiting to introduce to the suet feeder.

Perched on the sunflower seed feeder just a few feet away from the suet cakes and watching intently was her young chick. The slightly smaller version of the female Pileated Woodpecker was watching and learning from mom how to snatch a quick energy boost eating suet from the feeder.

Soon, the female flew to the fence and gave her young one a chance to try its hand… err I mean its bill on eating suet.

Looks like I’ll need to keep a closer watch on the suet feeder with mother and her young one both dropping in to eat.

Perfect New Year’s resolution: state park challenges

Resolutions can be healthy, fun and adventurous! Hoosiers looking for a challenge or a reason to get outdoors should consider completing one of Indiana State Park’s many challenges in 2025. There are 12 challenges at different properties ranging in difficulty and type.

The newest challenge is the Falls of the Ohio State Park Fossil Challenge. The challenge invites explorers to discover unique fossil features on the 390-million-year-old Devonian fossil beds, which are among the largest exposed beds in the world.

All state park challenges encourage exploration, and most have a physical fitness component, but the fossil challenge also features a mental matching and discovery component. As guests walk around the fossil beds (river level permitting) for fitness, they will try to match the ancient treasures in the limestone with the challenge brochure photos.

For hiking enthusiasts there are many hiking trail challenges to conquer. The longest mileage for hikers is at Charlestown State Park, with the challenge to hike all 16.3-miles of trails at the park. The shortest mileage is the 1.5-mile hike at Indiana Dunes State Park which contains a 552-ft vertical climb, and where hikers will traverse three of the tallest sand dunes.

Water enthusiasts with small boats may enjoy paddling challenges at Chain O’Lakes State Park, with its winding nine-lake challenge, and at Summit Lake State Park, with its two kayak trails challenge. Both offer healthy challenges on the water with many wildlife viewing opportunities.

Challenges may be completed over several visits to the parks. A list of all the State Park Challenges and details can be found online at: dnr.IN.gov/healthy.

‘till next time,  

Jack

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com 

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle do