Sunday morning ornithology

I was hurrying back from an errand this morning to get ready to go for brunch with a friend - a rare enough occurrence for me here in Hades - when material started raining down on me as I drew near to our house. I thought I heard some of it splat and starting checking my clothes for bird splotches. Glancing down at the pavement, I saw chips and chunks of wood.

I retraced my steps, following a rapping sound and peered up into the branches of one of the maples, which is always the first to change colour and hence, lose its leaves.
This meant I had an unobstructed view of a pileated woodpecker. I see them every couple of years in this neighbourhood, if I'm paying attention, and if the foliage doesn't hide them.

A fellow backed into the driveway in front of me, and baffled, remained in his truck, evidently wondering what I was doing in front of his house, smack in the middle of the sidewalk. My right-hand neighbour approached me, smiling in a rather puzzled fashion. I showed her where to look, and the driver was now staring at her, as she walked around his truck and gazed upward. As I set off, I could hear her explaining, while she took some snaps of her own.