The newest visitor to my balcony is this male Downy Woodpecker.
I used to see him only occasionally but he's now a daily visitor.
He's pretty showy with his red nape, striped head and spotted wings.
Peanuts are his favourite.
Photographed on February 8, 2021.
Mr. and Mrs. Woody visit our feeder every day and they always announce their presence. Sometimes they even appear to fall asleep on the feeder and sit there unmoving for the longest time. Our feeder is a large tree limb that has holes drilled that we keep filled with suet. We can't put out seeds for the birds because they were attracting squirrels that seemed to think that chomping on car wires was a tasty dessert. After several people had huge repair bills we all stopped putting out seeds.
ReplyDeleteMany of my bird visitors have the occasional nap on the balcony. They must feel relatively safe there.
DeleteAn interesting, if expensive, story about the squirrels...they can be destructive. We don't have squirrels here but there is a mouse who climbs the forty foot brick wall (which is covered with vines) up to the balcony to collect his share of the shelled peanuts.
We live on the third floor of an apartment building that has brick walls. The squirrels will climb up the walls and pilfer seeds from our feeder (or did, when we had one). They would clean out the feeder in under a day, despite us buying a very expensive 'squirrel-proof' version. If we stepped out on the balcony they would leap off the edge and fall to the ground three stores below and then take off running. Amazing creatures!
Delete"Squirrel-proof!" Hahaha! I think that's a phrase made up by someone who's never met a squirrel. They are determined little critters.
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