Red-bellied Woodpecker - Diligent Dad

Sometimes I spot him as early as 6:30 AM if I'm lucky.

But Mr. Red-belly can be seen at various times throughout the day, diligently gathering food for his hungry offspring.

Such a hard worker! He carries a sunflower seed from the feeder over to the nearby sugar maple and cracks it open.

At first I thought he was gathering his own breakfast until one morning I spotted....

...this little fellow peeking over the branch,

 

....waiting for Daddy to bring another seed.

Ah, here he comes. Hurry Dad, I'm starved!

I wonder how many tiny morsels it takes to fill that little tummy.

How about some suet?

Oh, yes please!

And back he goes for more.

What's taking so long?

Sometimes Dad has to argue with the sparrows about whose turn it is. They're feeding babies too, you know!

But can't you see I'm hungrier than they are?

(Notice he doesn't yet have a red head? There's only a faint smudge of red on July 26th).

Overworked and underpaid, don't you know?

I work my beak off, and what do I get? Squawk, squawk, more, more!

Doesn't this child ever sleep? Why can't his mother do this?

(see, there is a little red on his belly...not much, but it's there).

But Mommy is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she's on duty elsewhere.

(This photo is from '09).

I did see this female on the maple trunk back in the middle of May, but haven't noticed one since.

Notice the difference in the coloring on the female's head? She has a gap in the red while Daddy's head color goes all the way to his beak.

Red-bellies are often misnamed red-headed woodpeckers for obvious reasons, but you can see what a red-head looks like here at Cornell Lab of Ornithology's great site, All About Birds.

Last time I saw the youngster was August 4th. He came by himself, or at least he appeared to be alone. Daddy was nowhere in sight. See how the red has come in on his head in just over a week?

I didn't see him eat anything before he flew into the maple tree, but it looks like he's becoming more independant, getting out on his own. I'll bet Dad is happy about that!
I hope we're lucky enough to see the little guy feeding a baby of his own next year.

Not so Common Redpolls

I photographed these cute little birds at our feeders on January 5th and 7th.

Common Redpolls, as they are known, live in the boreal and taiga regions of Canada but are not so common in our area of upstate New York.

Sometimes though, we get lucky.

This happens when supplies of tree seeds in the boreal forests are low and they need to find food sources elsewhere.

When they move south to our northern states it's called an 'irruption' and typically occurs every other winter. We didn't see them at all last winter, but a few visited in early 2009.

  

The male has a red breast as well as a red cap, but the female only has the red cap.
You can see a mixture of males and females on the tray. Click on the photos for a closer view.

They are perky little members of the finch family. The same size as Goldfinches, they are often seen feeding with a group of 'Goldies'.

Another 'irruptive' finch that we love to see at our feeders are Pine Siskins. I was lucky enough to catch them on November 2nd 2010, but sadly, haven't seen them since. As you can see, they are very similar to Redpolls but lack the red markings.

There was a huge irruption of Siskins during the winter of 2008-09 and we enjoyed these gregarious little birds for most of those winter months. None were seen the following winter and we missed their friendly presence.

There's a post about this winter's Redpoll irruption on the new Project Feederwatch blog here if you'd like to read more about these birds and find out where else they've been spotted.

Here's another little 'lady' Redpoll.

I hope both these uncommon visitors will stop by again before the winter is over to liven up our feeders and brighten our days. 

Jasmine and Hannah might even rouse themselves for such an event!

Cardinal Colors

Mr. Cardinal graced us with his bright red presence on the front porch this morning

and stayed long enough for me to snap a couple of shots.

Our very snowy, cold weather this winter has brought lots of hungry birds to the feeders.

I've been counting for Project Feederwatch on Fridays and Saturdays since November. It's not too late to sign up to count. It goes through to early April and is a great winter passtime. You can read information about the project by clicking the above link or the button in the sidebar. 

Today the feeders were busy with 15 different species.
Some come in large numbers but we usually see only a few Cardinals. Lately though I've observed up to 8 at a time, which is quite a treat. They look like bright Christmas ornaments in the big Sugar Maple and surrounding shrubs, and of course are absolutely stunning against the snow.

They come early with the house sparrows, tree sparrows and juncos.

Mrs. Cardinal is shyer than Mr. C. and

doesn't usually venture as close as the front porch. She's sharing the tree with a chickadee and sparrow here. 

Mr. C. gives me more photo opportunities. I think he likes to pose. Those green blotches you see are Christmas lights in the foreground.

Mrs. C. spends a lot of time feeding on the ground
with her friends...house sparrows and a junco here.

And here with a mourning dove and male house sparrow.

It's not often that I manage to catch Mr. and Mrs. together.

Mr. C. likes to gossip with the crowd on the pole feeder tray....a mourning dove and house sparrows here.

Even the bossy bluejays will stop by for a chat.

Mrs. C. likes to socialize on the tray too.

She rarely comes to the porch feeder tray like Mr. C. though.

He's just a friendly guy!

And we're awfully glad to have him and the missus and all their feathered friends to brighten things up around here.