More Woodpeckers

Are you getting tired of woodpeckers yet? I hope not, because I have some more to share with you. Here's Mr. Hairy Woodpecker on the suet log. I was happy to see that he wasn't the least bit intimidated by the starling deterrent cage and taking advantage of the suet available in the lower holes on the log.

I was extremely surprised to see this Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker in my backyard this afternoon. Here she's sharing the suet with a starling.

Here's a better look at her underneath and you can how she got her name! I checked my field guide and determined that this is a female because her throat is white (the male would have a red throat).

Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers are a summer bird in Minnesota and I rarely see them in my yard, even in the summer. According to my field guides, the farthest north wintering range of these birds is the southern most parts of Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, so I'm not sure what this poor bird is still doing here. Here's one more look at this pretty lady.

Here are a couple pictures of my Red-Bellied Woodpecker pair enjoying seed from some different feeders. They seem to favor seed over suet. This is the male.

And here's the female, trying to get a little protection from the weather.

As you can tell from all these pictures, we're having a little snowstorm today. Actually we're in a winter storm warning until 6 PM tomorrow evening. It's been snowing since about 8 AM today and I guess we've probably gotten 5-6 inches already (on top of the 5.4" we got yesterday). The temps are dropping rapidly and the wind is starting to pick up. The weather service is predicting winds of 20-30 mph with gusts to 40 mph overnight. I'm not planning to leave the house again this weekend (except to fill the birdfeeders tomorrow morning). It's going to be a good weekend to get the last of my Christmas present projects finished!