How Many Pecks Would a Woodpecker Peck While Another Woodpecker Pecks Wood? (The CoastWatcher: Caribbean West)
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
26 May 2001
By Pierre Renaldo, The Coastwatcher©

The other morning, very early, probably about first light I heard a strange noise. I am not the superstitious type, but there has been a lot of talk about duppies (islander's version of ghosts) lately, especially in the community of Flowers Bay. In fact most of them will not come too close to my house because of an ugly history established there long before my tenure.

I pulled the covers back over my head, thinking it was probably something one of the cats was playing with. A short time later I was again awakened by this knocking sound so I went down to the door and looked out through the speakeasy window. Nobody! Nada.

I trudged back up to bed and drifted away to Dreamsville again, hoping while still awake that there would be a continuation of the very interesting dream I was having when the first duppy knocked.

Some time later the knocking sound recurred, and this time I ran to the window to see if I could catch the culprit making the noise and wrecking my nice quiet Sunday morning. Then I saw them. Not one but two large red headed woodpeckers were have a go at the corner of my house.

They were hanging onto the vertical wall, effortlessly, examining and sampling the hard Honduran Pine that covers the exterior of my house. Then the bird closest to me began pecking in earnest, sounding like a jackhammer chipping concrete. He was serious and from the intensity of his activity I was sure he would gain entry into my house in a mater of minutes.

Mistress Gloria joined me in the viewing, and immediately came up with a brilliant idea. She went up to the widow's walk, with a piece of orange plastic from some wrappings, tied it onto a string and lowered it to a point just over Mr. Woodpeckers head. It worked like a charm, fluttering in the wind.

Another first. We had a scarecrow of sorts swinging in the breeze in front of our house. I'm sure the locals who passed on their way to church had another laugh at the latest antics of the crazy Gringos living out there on the ironshore. "Carumba! They have ornaments hanging from the house and it is not even fiesta!"

We sat sipping our coffee while passing the early morning in our favorite sport. Watching our world wake up. I have always marveled at birds, and having lived in Florida for so long and having been exposed to a great variety of feathered friends, I am always delighted to observe them.

Roatan has some lovely water birds. Every morning and evening a flight of white egrets flutters past our windows going to and returning from their feeding grounds. Until I got my new binoculars I thought they were some kind of gulls. There are almost no seagulls on Roatan. I have not seen them on the bayside of the island.

Another species we rarely see here is pelicans. But there is a lone gray pelican that drifts past us every morning, effortlessly gliding on invisible currents; then suddenly peeling off like a dive bomber, he folds back his wings, straightens his neck and falls like a giant dart into the sea.

As we see the pelican surface and raise his huge beak skyward, shaking down the first morsel of his morning hunt, a pair of man 'o war birds floats across our horizon, heading out to sea. They may stay out there for months.
As the sun brightens, our little friends the humming birds begin darting all around the exterior of the house, looking for the morning's repast.

A great heron is fishing, poised on a distant rock, still as a statue, but waiting for the first water creature to venture near the surface, where it will be plucked from its environment in a split second. So awkward and gawky on the ground, beautiful and graceful in flight.

Suddenly, the dark shadows appear. The vultures come in a swarm, wings outstretched, circling high, observing all, waiting, watching.

Later examination gave cause for thanks. Our duppy knockers of the early morning had managed a good size hole in the corner boards of the second floor. I can't imagine how a woodpecker can in minutes, make a big hole in a piece of wood as hard as Honduran Pine, that I can barely hammer a nail into.

I am not sure if there is any book on the birds of Roatan. We hear and see many species for which we do not know the names. I have seen water birds swimming on the surface of the Caribbean which looked like some kind of wild ducks. There is a swamp not far from us, where perhaps they are nesting.

We often see darting birds that fly like chimney sweeps or barn swallows, marked by their erratic flight. Several kinds of blackbirds are always present in the seagrape groves surrounding our house. They have some pleasant songs to sing, and we cherish their music. I sometimes hear the sounds of wild parrots, though I have never seen them around our house or along the coastal areas of the island.

Of course there is the occasional crowing of a rooster, well off in the distance. I'm glad for that because island roosters have never seemed to learn how to tell time. They announce sunrise at almost any hour of the night.

There is the big annual Fiesta coming up in La Ceiba soon. It is like a week of festivities that draws people from all over Central America. A good excuse for a big party. I think I'll stay on the island. I'm still not over the Easter crowds.

For questions or comments drop me a few lines at: elouis@globalnet.hn and don't forget to visit my web pages at http://www.eroatan.com/

That's it for this week
Ciao

By Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors, Construction Management and Construction Consultants.