Today's Amazing Bird Picture

I know... This is starting to look like a photo blog.

But you don't get too many pictures like this, and I wanted to share it


Red-tail taking off from a utility pole...

The Other Visitor

Here is a (very poor) picture of the other little woodpecker visiting our feeder these days.



Unlike the redhead of my previous picture/post, this guy is not the least bit eager to stick around and pose for a portrait. I only had enough time to fire off about five frames before he spooked and flew away, and in two of those he was bending over eating off the back of the feeder, so...he has no head.

So this shot is the best of the lot, and it isn't great. But I do now have pictorial evidence of both woodpeckers of 2008. I can't decide whether our friend here is a "downy" or a "hairy" woodpecker. The two species are almost identical, except one is a little bigger. I thought this must be a downy because he isn't very big, but the call I hear around here when the 'peckers fly overhead is definitely the "kingfisher-like rattle" of the hairy.

I know...this is a little more info than anybody really needs.

But I'm feeling kind of weird about being the kind of person who gets excited about red-headed sapsuckers and hairy woodpeckers in her back yard...