A Downy Woodpecker

 The next bird that has come to my little bell feeder is this female Downy Woodpecker. She showed up a few days after the Cardinals began visiting, and now she comes every day. The Juncos usually arrive right after she shows up. They're still guarding the feeder closely.

How do I know she's a female Woodpecker? It's a similar thing to the Cardinals. It's the color. the male is a bit more colorful than the female bird. Right on the back of the head a male Downy Woodpecker has a bright red spot. This female here doesn't have that.

Woodpeckers are some of my favorite birds, although I have to admit I have several favorites. Ever since I was a kid watching Woody Woodpecker on TV I wanted to see a real Woodpecker. A Downy Woodpecker was the first kind of Woodpecker I ever saw. There have been a few others since then.

I have to say I took these pictures some time ago now. The problem is that I'm seeing so many birds at the feeder that it's hard to keep up. I can only post so many things at a time. I like to stick to one subject per post, and I take so many pictures of each bird that I want to show some of the best.

I also have to explain the story of the bell feeders. I may have done that already but I'll do it again. In this post I'm on my second feeder. Squirrels carried the other away and chewed at it, but I retrieved it soon after. The birds ate it down some more. But then the dog knocked it down under the porch so I couldn't get it. Now I'm on my second one.

This second feeder has an even more interesting story to tell in future posts. I'll try to get to them as fast as I can, but I can only go so fast. I've been posting more than I have in a few years now. It's been kind of fun trying to keep going and keep up this rate. It takes me back to when I had a new post every day. This is the most I can do for now though. I'll talk to you later, probably with more birds.