Wanna see my pecker?
I don't know if that title will encourage folk to visit or scare them away. I think I'm quite safe in guessing that it's not the kind of title that will entice nature lovers. I guess that was a mistake on my part.
'Cause the pecker in question is a Woodpecker! I know. It's not much of a surprise now since you've got that big picture up there of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
This is the first one I've seen visit my bird feeder. They're a little more oriented to wooded areas and I live in the middle of a huge unwooded area that used to be a cow pasture. The only woods around are trees that we homeowners have planted. Mostly Bradford pears.
Isn't that a lovely pecker? I took something like 30 pictures of it but the damn thing kept moving around so much that only 5 of them turned out okay.
She hung around that bird feeder in the top picture the most but she kept trying to insert her beak into the center section. My guess is that there were insects of some sort in there and she was trying for those. She ate a number of seeds though so she didn't go away disappointed.
And in case you ever wondered why they're called "Red-bellied", you can see a little of that red in this picture. BTW, despite criticism from several of my bird-loving friends, I use cheap Wal-mart birdseed to bring the critters in. I think this picture is of the bird throwing up over the rail. Apparently Woodpeckers are used to better bird seed. Sorry!
'Cause the pecker in question is a Woodpecker! I know. It's not much of a surprise now since you've got that big picture up there of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
This is the first one I've seen visit my bird feeder. They're a little more oriented to wooded areas and I live in the middle of a huge unwooded area that used to be a cow pasture. The only woods around are trees that we homeowners have planted. Mostly Bradford pears.
Isn't that a lovely pecker? I took something like 30 pictures of it but the damn thing kept moving around so much that only 5 of them turned out okay.
She hung around that bird feeder in the top picture the most but she kept trying to insert her beak into the center section. My guess is that there were insects of some sort in there and she was trying for those. She ate a number of seeds though so she didn't go away disappointed.
And in case you ever wondered why they're called "Red-bellied", you can see a little of that red in this picture. BTW, despite criticism from several of my bird-loving friends, I use cheap Wal-mart birdseed to bring the critters in. I think this picture is of the bird throwing up over the rail. Apparently Woodpeckers are used to better bird seed. Sorry!
Comments
You're gonna get some very odd comments, Dave.
What a beautiful pecker, and well done on capturing it so well!
Great pictures. I live in a decidedly suburban area, but still close to the American River and Folsom Lake. We have wild Turkeys frequently roaming the neighborhood, but occasionally a lost deer will find its way into civilization. They're always too freaked out to hold still long enough to get my camera out.
Tanya sent me this morning,
Mike