I lived about 4 miles from the Great Smoky Mtns. Nat’l Park...
I was driving through Cades Cove, an 11 mile one way loop in the Park heading to a trout stream...Tourist traffic had stopped and was backed up for a good bit...I thought, “Must be a bear or some deer...”
When I finally got to where the people were stopping, I saw tourists out of their cars taking pictures....Of a freaking Red-Headed Woodpecker sitting on a log.....
A WOODPECKER!!!!!!!!
“A WOODPECKER!!!!!!!!”
Well, at least it wasn’t a Peckerwood.
Not just any woodpecker, but a dam RED Headed Woodpecker.
Next thing you know, they'll be stopping to take a picture of a Spotted Owl. (Only it will be a "BARR-Owl,") close enough if you don't know the difference.