Woodpecker!
I had this really great thing happen on Friday. It had seemed like the woodpecker, a Downy, that I’d originally spotted at my suet feeder was not coming back to eat, because I never saw it there. When I spoke about it with my parents who know quite a bit about bird feeding, they suggested I move the feeder to a tree for a while to get the woodpecker used to eating at it. Of course, that meant I was no longer going to have a birds-eye view (ha!) of the action, because the tree where I’d seen the woodpecker eating and where I planned to hang the feeder is quite far from the dining room. Oh well.
So, I went out there on Friday to move the feeder and she (the woodpecker) must’ve been nearby, because after I’d hung the feeder and walked back up to the deck, she was fluttering around the regular bird seed feeder!
Once I was up on the deck, she quickly flew to the tree where I’d just hung the feeder. After trying to figure out where to stand to get to it, she started pecking away at the suet! Success!
I grabbed my camera and swapped out the lens and took a whole bunch of photos before remembering that I needed to check the exposure! doh! They were all white. So, I hurriedly started changing the exposure and film speed in order to get a shot.
I just barely got this one before she finished eating at the feeder.
Then she shimmied up the tree, so I got a few of her in her natural environment. Here is the best one.
and in large
Then, I couldn’t believe it, she came and perched on the regular bird feeder up at the deck for a second.
And then she went over by where the feeder had hung until just a few minutes ago! Which meant, of course, that she was REALLY CLOSE!
and in large
I love this shot! I can’t believe I got it.
You can see that she is a female by not having any red stripes on her head. And it is really hard to tell the difference between a Downy and a Hairy by the coloring, but I’m pretty sure she is a Downy because of her size (6″ as opposed to 9″).
Heee!
I took all photos with Dee-Dee and my macro-zoom lens from Dad, the Vivitar 70-210 mm.
Amber says:
Oh!!!
We’ve been seeing those around here, too! And we looked in my Field Guide, and it was a Downy!
We have been seeing LOTS of them!
Squirl says:
Look at her sweet little self! Great shots!
It took me a while to be able to distinguish between the Hairys and the Downys without seeing them side by side. I’m not a good judge of bird size at a distance.
LadyBug says:
I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I know your family reads this blog, so I’ll just apologize my butt off here, right off the bat, but….
I haven’t been around for the last couple days, what with the sick kids and all, and I stopped by to see what’s up with you, and my brain is still pretty mushy from being cooped up with sick kids and feeding it nothing but Nemo and Blue’s Clues…SOOOOO….
all I could think when I saw the title was, Hee! Danielle has “pecker” on her blog.
And then…and THEN I got to the “Downy and Hairy” part…
…and (*snork*) it’s all I can do to keep from laughing out loud, right here in my office at work.
Teeheehee, Hahahahaha, woohoo!
P.S. Confidential to Danielle’s sweet family: Please accept my humblest apologies for my dirty, immature mindset this morning (on the first day of Passover, for cryin’ out loud!).
LadyBug says:
Oh! I almost forgot…
P.S. They ARE lovely photos, indeed.
P.P.S. I’m still snickering. Hee.
Mother Hen says:
Hey LadyBug,
Not offended at all, just gave me a good laugh here at work and boy do we need those. Aren’t laughs supposed to count in burning calories?
Pretty little birdie and so much fun to watch!
Nina says:
Oh my those are just beautiful pictures. I love woodpeckers! All birds really but woodpeckers are one of my favorites.
Texas Seestor says:
Great pictures of a very cute, soft looking woodpecker.
I showed them to some friends at work and they were very impressed!