That’s how the day started — wham! wham! wham! A handsome male Red-bellied Woodpecker discovered the new suet feeder suctioned to the kitchen window, and he couldn’t have cared less about the racket he made while eating his breakfast. We enjoyed his noisy presence as coffee brewed; and after Mike filled the seed feeder hanging from one of our big, old oak trees, we watched the noisemaker dine on black oil sunflower seeds. He made repeated trips from the trunk of the tree to the feeder and back again while occasionally taking a break to run off another hungry male. The joy of watching birds never gets old!
Named for the often hidden rosy glow on the belly, Red-bellied Woodpeckers frequent our woodlands along with Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, and Pileated Woodpeckers. Only once did we see a Red-headed Woodpecker, and that sighting occurred in 2001. (Since the 1960s, Red-headed Woodpeckers experienced a 70% population decline and are now listed as "Near Threatened." Will we ever see a Red-headed Woodpecker in our beloved woodlands again? There's always hope!)
Wonderful focus, detail and light, fav! It sounds as if you are living in Woodpecker Heaven--except for the red-headed ones. I certainly hope they make a comeback, just monarch butterflies, which I really love, appear to be doing.
