Hairy Woodpecker, Juvenile

 

 

This Hairy Woodpecker, a juvenile, frequents the sunflower seed feeder outside our kitchen window.  When we had "street improvements" a couple of years ago, the excavations set two maples into the process of decay and dying at the top of our driveway.  There the woodpecker lives. 

I am fascinated by woodpeckers though I don't like their hole making in healthy trees.  Most woodpeckers have very long tongues (sometimes as long as four times the length of their bill). These long tongues are stored like a tape measure in twin structures that wrap around the inside perimeter of the skull.  The tip of the tongue is sticky and barbed to help them forage for insects.

This woodpecker is male.  He has a small red patch on the back of his head.  Females have no red patch.

Earlier this year, an adult Hairy Woodpeckers tapped on the metal pole on which hangs the feeder...for days.  I assume whichever male makes the loudest noise gets the female.  Since there are now juvenile woodpeckers at our feeders, he must have been successful.

Blue Jays at the Feeder

 

Eating a sunflower seed

 

 

 

Looking them over

 

 

 

Choosing the right one

 

 

 

 

What now?

 

 

 

Perhaps this angle is better?

Black-capped Chickadee Visitors

Black-capped Chickadee Visitors

On this gray, drizzly day, the only cheery notes are the songs of the Black-capped Chickadees, the provincial bird of New Brunswick.  They flit to the feeder, grab one black oil sunflower seed and fly, bouncing to a maple or spruce to hide in the thick branches and eat.

Fun to watch, their quick aerobatics to and from feeders mean I have to be quick to capture photos.   As I sit by the window on the lookout for them, I notice them investigating me; these enchanting chubby birds with black caps and bibs.

Black-capped Chickadees have white cheeks, soft grey backs, grey wings with white tips and grey tails.  Their whitish undersides with buff coloured sides give them a cuddly appearance.

New Brunswick isn’t the only place where Chickadees are found.  There are seven different varieties found in North American; five types live in Canada.  For more info, click on:   http://www.birds-of-north-america.net/chickadees.html

One legend says if a Chickadee flies into a tree and sings, chick-a-dee-dee-dee, someone is coming.   http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheThunderNationAndTheEagle-Unknown.html

I wonder who it will be.

Words and photos are ©copyright Carol Steel.  Text in red will take you to another website with additional information, if you click on it.

A New Feeder

A New Feeder for our Birds

My activities are limited for a time so Gary bought me a new feeder to watch and enjoy.  The purple finches are enjoying it too. 

 

The first visitors were woodpeckers and chickadees.

Soon many birds were after the black oil sunflower seeds.

And on clean up, where I spilled seeds, we have ...

All photos and words are copyright Carol Steel.