That sounds great! I'm hoping to see a pileated someday. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the catbirds at the spicebush as much as I can.

What is a spicebush? Are the berries edible for people as well? I've got several downy woodpeckers in my yard, no pileated. What fun!

Laura, spicebush is Lindera benzoin. It's a pretty shrub, but not as flashy as some. The summer foliage looks better than the attached link's picture would lead you to believe. I think the other pictures are pretty accurate. Don't think people can eat the berries. I checked a book I have about which animals eat which plants, and per that my catbird isn't a surprise, and thrushes including robins will eat the berries. NJTea seems to have really lucked out. (I checked the frequency of for pileateds at a nature preserve near me and even there, they're only expected to be seen a few times a year).

I do really like having the catbirds around, and love the smell of the plant when I prune it. The spicebush that came with my house has a particularly graceful shape. It's probably one of my favorite plants. (we actually bought 2 more spicebushes this year). It's a host plant for spicebush swallowtail butterflies, is native here and I think in your area also.

Here is a link that might be useful: UConn Plant DB page on Lindera benzoin.

Yes, I am lucky - especially since this is the second year I've seen this behavior.

Although I've lived here 7 years and over the years have frequently seen the pileated, it's only been in the last two years that one has partaken of the spicebush fruit.

Loris, are your spicebushes drooping? I've finally begun to give mine some water - it doesn't seem to take much to make them spring back. Unfortunately, I notice a lot more dieback this year on my bushes than I've seen in the last couple of years which is presume is due to lack of rain this summer.

Yes, my spicebushes have been looking worse than I remember happening before. My mother and SIL both live in a different part of NJ and apparently have been having a reasonable amount of rain, but we definitely haven't. My most mature spicebush isn't in line with where our sprinkler normally goes and the plant's has a few branches that have dropped leaves. I was paying more attention to 4 new shrubs we planted this spring and summer. I'll know to check more carefully if we have another dry year like this next year.

BTW, in case anyone's thinking of buying spicebushes, only the female plants get the berries and a male plant must be close enough by for pollination.

My spicebushes are doing fine so far, but my dogwoods (big, old trees) look terrible - I had to resort to soaking them or I think we would have lost them. I also deep watered all of the trees and shrubs that we planted within the last three years, just in case - and that took most of the day, ugh. I hope that we get some rain from Ophelia, but the probabilities are low.

Wish our infrequent pileated visitor would try our spice bush, but I think the oodles of catbirds are pretty good at stripping the bare.