Bird Feeder Pix

Matt said, “I can understand why the goshawk perched there. It’s a comfortable horizontal branch with a great view of the hors d’oeuvre tray.” He was talking, of course, about all the little birds that visit the feeders, which the goshawk is thinking about for lunch.

We’ve only seen a pileated woodpecker once in Casco, but there are downy woodpeckers frequently at the feeder and hairy woodpeckers pretty often. I was lucky enough to get a picture of both kinds at once, so you can see how much bigger the hairy (on the suet to the left) is than the downy (on the tree trunk). There’s a bluejay in the picture, but I wouldn’t want to identify it from this.

Of course we have squirrels at the feeder. This picture has three diurnal rodents, a chipmunk on the left just inside the shadow, a gray squirrel, and a red squirrel. Oh, and a black-capped chickadee on the bird feeder, as a bonus. I’m sure there are several species of mice and voles in the area, and porcupines and beavers too. The former owner of the house said he once heard a strange noise near the garage and found a porcupine gnawing on the shingles when he went out to investigate.
Here’s a better picture of a bluejay:

Published by deanb

male born 1944 mathematician by training, software engineer by profession; retired since Labor Day 2013 birder, cyclist, unicyclist, eraser carver, knitter when possible