We did have a new bird come to our suet feeder–an hairy woodpecker. An hairy woodpecker looks just like a downy but bigger. We have seen them before but not recently. We got more snow last night. In fact, it was still snowing when I awoke. Spring is less than two weeks away. We have had snow on the ground for months. We are soon going in a spell (eight days) when it will be in the forties every day and even in the fifties one or two days. I wonder whether all the snow will melt during that period. We will see.
Tags: bird feeding, birds, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, snow, snow on the ground, spring, spring two weeks off, suet feeder, warm spell
Posted in birds, local, nature, seasons, time |
Today I saw an hairy and a red bellied woodpecker at the same time travelling up and down on the trunk of our white pine we put a suet cake on. The hairy woodpecker was an unusual visitor. A hairy woodpecker looks just like a downy woodpecker–just bigger. For months we stopped putting out birdseed because a bear visited our property one time too often destroying our gate during one visit. Our dogs were no help: they slept right through all the bear’s visits. My wife once saw the bear standing in the yard at night munching on birdseed on the ground.
Tags: a bear raided our birdseed at night, bird feeding, bird-watching, birds, birdseed, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, my wife, our encounter with a bear, red bellied woodpecker, suet cake, the dogs slept through several bear visits, white pine tree
Posted in animals, birds, local, nature, time |
It is a mystery to me when birds come to my feeders. Sometimes the dogs chase them away. Other times I don’t know why they don’t come. There is birdseed there. I just don’t know. It is always puzzling to me that I can put out a new suet cake and the birds find it almost right away. And that is after I have been out for awhile. The birds provide such pleasure. In the spring I noted we have quite a few goldfinch. Sometimes there are so many I see them at two different feeders–the sunflower and thistle feeder. It always amazes me that one will sit on the thistle feeder for five minutes at a time feeding. The males are reverting to yellow, again. We have been having three different kinds of woodpeckers come to eat the suet: downy, red bellied and now hairy. The hairy woodpecker has become a regular visitor. In the past, we hardly ever saw one. At least one knows about the suet. The hairy woodpecker is twice the size of the downy. Though somewhat similar in markings.
Tags: bird feeding, bird-watching, birds, birdseed, dogs, downy woodpecker, goldfinch, goldfinch in spring, hairy woodpecker, pets, red bellied woodpecker, suet cake, sunflower feeder, thistle feeder, woodpeckers
Posted in birds, local, nature, seasons, time |
An hairy woodpecker came to our suet two times in the last three days. It is one we don’t see too often. It is marked just like a downy woodpecker only bigger. There was no red on its head so it was a female. Monday I was thrilled: I not only saw my first robin of the season but also an hairy woodpecker. At least, one hairy woodpecker is now aware of the suet I put out.
Tags: bird feeding, bird-watching, birds, downy woodpecker, first robin of the season, hairy woodpecker, suet
Posted in beauty, birds, local, nature, seasons, time |
