Anna

Activity #1 I have  pileated wood pecker who lives in the woods around my house and get to observe him almost daily. Today he spent some time on the ground close enough for me to have a good view. It looked like he was going through leaves, I assume to find bugs to eat. I love hearing him and watching him fly between the trees. Activity #2 I have a bird feeder near the creek in my back yard. This week, I've seen three indigo buntings, which I think are just passing through. I've noticed they seem to stay on the ground and eat the dropped seeds more often than sitting on the feeder. We have two pairs of nesting cardinals and I've seen the males chase each other away from the feeder. I also have three suet feeders and have quickly realized that almost all the birds (with the exception maybe of the chickadees) prefer the peanut butter suet. Activity #3 We have many woodpeckers in the woods around our house. I've heard the pileated call and recently have heard a red-bellied call and never realized how similar they sound. I'm not sure now if everything I thought was the pileated might have actually been the red-bellied!   This is a downy woodpecker at one of the suet feeders (I think! I'm struggling to figure out which ones are downies and which ones are hairies. I think we have both!)

This is a Kingfisher. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I believe it is a female because of the rusty-colored belt. I'm not sure what group they belong to. I'd say either waterfowl or wading birds, but they don't have webbed feet or long legs! If anyone knows, I'd love to be informed.