Backyard Birds

It is 6:30 a.m. so I'm not sure whether I should say I'm writing this very late (it should have been written last night, after all) or I'm writing this very early.  We had to go to bed earlier than usual since D had to be up earlier than anyone should have to be (3:45 a.m.), I didn't take care of this yesterday.  Maybe it's an in-betweener!

Yesterday was our usual sort of day with all of our current activities: errands, cabinet cleaning, painting for me, computer work for D.  However, the highlight was the appearance at our bird feeders of the pileated woodpecker, aka Woody Woodpecker.  Since he is quite skittish, I didn't dare try to get outside to take his picture so all of the following shots are taken from our family room windows.

Again, remember that if you click on the photo, you can get a full screen view of all the photos I'll have in the blog today.  This woodpecker is the largest of the one we see, and he is lured to our feeder that we stock with peanuts.  He visited for quite some time until something spooked him - or he was simply full.

For such a large bird, he can certainly contort himself quite well and manage this feeder from top to bottom!

Here is one of the other woodpeckers we see on a slightly more regular basis.  The Red-bellied Woodpecker is on the suet which is his particular favorite.  We also saw both the hairy and the downy woodpeckers today, but that was before I got the camera out.  Off to the right you'll see a nuthatch and a chickadee who are both familiar everyday visitors.  

I think this is a little house finch above the cardinal, but I can't be sure as by this time the light was fading.

And now the cardinal all by himself.  He was watching as his mate was feeding under the nearby bushes where we scatter seed for the little, more chary birds.  Of course, the cardinals are welcome no matter where they want to feed!