This might seem like kind of an odd story to share with you, but it’s so funny that I can’t resist any longer.

Do you guys ever see birds at Walt Disney World that you don’t have where you live? Way back when my family used to fly in from Seattle to vacation here in Florida, we’d see birds that we just didn’t see on a regular basis at home like Blue Jays, Red Cardinals, and funny enough, Woodpeckers. I know they were around, but we just didn’t see them in our yard so it was always fun to see them during our vacations.

Last month, my husband walked out the front door and there was a pigeon wandering around in the flower beds just outside. It was quite odd that he didn’t fly away as soon as he heard the door open so we thought something might be wrong with one of his wings.

He was actually able to pick him right up so we looked him over and everything seemed just fine. He had a band on each foot, so we thought maybe he belonged to someone closeby. After posting a note on the NextDoor app to see if any neighbors had him as a pet, there were suggestions given to bring him inside and that he might be exhausted from flying a long distance. We researched the numbers on his bands and found that he was actually from Naples which is quite a way away from Jacksonville.

We happened to have some shelled sunflower seeds and gave him some water and he seemed quite happy to have access to both. We grabbed a big clear, plastic tub from the garage and set him all up on our dining room table where he was as happy as can be overnight. The next day, he was fluttering his wings a bit so we decided to see if he was ready to fly – and, he was, but he only flew up to our neighbor’s roof where he stayed for hours. When he finally flew back down, we brought him back into the house. As it turned out, someone our son works with happens to have an outdoor aviary in his backyard and was happy to take him in. My son checks in every now and then and our little pigeon friend is as happy as can be, so we’re happy too.

Now, fast forward to about two weeks ago, we started hearing this crazy rapid-thud sound coming from our fireplace. It was like that sound you hear if you’re driving with a flat tire. So, I started freaking out thinking that there was a small animal stuck in our chimney and was picturing thousands of dollars flying out of our checking account to have it taken care of. Meanwhile, I happened to be telling our neighbor about it and she filled me in on the scoop.

Apparently, Woodpeckers in Florida regularly visit houses whose chimneys have a metal guard on the top of it because when they peck on that metal, any bugs that happen to be in there – EWWW! – come flying out and the Woodpecker grabs them and takes them back to the nest for the baby birds. Pretty cute.

He comes a couple of times a day and now we just laugh when we hear it. I’m all for him getting the bugs out of the chimney – if that’s what he’s actually doing – because I’d completely lose it if any of them came down into the house. I keep running outside every time we hear him to see if we can get a picture of him and the one above is the best we’ve got so far. We’ll keep trying to get a better one where you can actually see that he’s a Woodpecker and I’ll add it here if we do.

This morning when I tried to get a quick picture of the Woodpecker, there was a beautiful blue bird in a tree that’s currently covered with hot pink blossoms and I thought it was just gorgeous. I’m not sure what type of a bird it is, but please share if you happen to know!

What kinds of birds do you see during your Walt Disney World vacation that you don’t have in your hometowns? Let me know in the comments section below!