Red-bellied woodpecker

There has been a new bird we have seen a few times, the red-bellied woodpecker. She is a female. She has been feeding on the sunflower feeder and suet feeder. The back of her neck is red and she has barred wings. We don't have any photographs of her yet. The scientific name for it is Melanerpes carolinus.

- Brady

Back to Bloggin'

I had the fortune to stumble upon WildlifeGardeners.org (link at left) last week and it has inspired me to get back into this blog.

The new header is one of our current guests - the 'snowbird' Junco hyemalis, the dark-eyed junco. It is one of our favorites, and we look forward to seeing them every fall and winter.

They display a lot of variability in their shades of grey, from a soft tone to nearly black. They are not overly fond of feeders, preferring to scratch amongst the mulch beneath the feeders. Like most sparrows, they will readily eat most seeds. They tend to stay under our nyjer feeder but will scratch anywhere they think they can find food.

By spring, they will be gone, and we'll look forward to seeing them again when it turns colder.