Looking over the edge of the hill I saw a large black shape flying through the trees toward the creek. I caught a flash of red as it pulled up into a tree. The bird flew to another tree. It seemed to be going in an arc and not flying any further away so I walked inside and got my camera and sat on the deck for a few minutes. The pileated woodpecker flew across the yard into the big fir trees at the edge of our backyard. I sat still and it flew down to the suet.
This is as close as I've been able to get.
The little Downy Woodpeckers have been coming regularly to the suet all month. The male to the right is showing a new behavior by climbing the thistle seed pole before he goes to the suet cage.
The female is more voracious than the males. She will come five or six times a day.
The male Downy to the left has been an occasional visitor but appears to be a different bird than the photos of the bird above. The photos were taken two weeks apart.
The pair of Flickers that have a nest near the creek have been the most aggressive feeders in June. They outdid the starlings and the scrub jays. They were all feeding young.
If you count the beaks and eyes the the photo on the left, you can see that there are three young Flickers in the nest.
I had to time the leaves moving in the wind to get these photos.
In the half hour I was at the nest there was one dominant bird who was nearly crawling out of the nest to look around.
The Nuthatches were always skittish. They stopped coming to the feeder several months ago. It seems that they did not like the wet weather. They returned mid June.
I'm amazed the ground dwelling Towhees have been able to survive the neighborhood cats.
Families of Grosbeaks have been feeding heavily all June.
Scrub Jays have evicted some of the Song Sparrows from the Bayberries out front. They are not welcomed neighbors.
I am having to regain the Hummingbird's trust after letting the sugar water spoil. It took a week for any to come back to the feeder.
