Woodpeckers O’Plenty: Suet Feeders

Yellow-Bellied Woodpecker

Here at Larrapin we’ve kept suet feeders going every winter and spring for years now. The result is a cornucopia of woodpeckers! Since the feeders are outside the kitchen window, they provide lots of entertainment while doing dishes. Some, like the red-belly woodpecker above, are very bold and can be easily photographed while I lean over the sink.

Others are notoriously difficult to catch on film, like the Pine Creeper above. Not only does he blend with the pine tree bark, he is very, very fast and always in motion. Usually he’s creeping around eating the bits of suet the nuthatch stashes behind the pine bark!

Isn’t she sweet! In this photo above she discovered the suet cage door had been left open and couldn’t believe her luck! Thankfully we latched the feeder before the suet block fell out. If not, at least one of our weiner dogs would have mysteriously gained five pounds overnight and then pooped birdseed for a week!

All kinds of birds take turns at the blocks, like the Carolina Wrens.

These guys above just eat and eat! I believe I’ve read that ‘eating like a bird’ translates to eating about half your body weight every day or so…

There he is again, the flash that is the Pine Creeper. Quick, snap the picture!!  OK, so it’s a little blurry, but he’s blurry even in real life because he’s always moving so fast.

Everyone wants the suet block for their own. But sometimes if you are a little junco you have to just jump on a grab a bite because  Big Mr. Piggish could be here all day! Nevermind that he’s staring you down…

There are only two woodpeckers that do not show up on the suet blocks: Flickers and Pileated. (Although the Flicker has been seen on the ground under the suet feeder picking up chips that fell down…) Next week I’ll post what I saw a whole family of FIVE flickers happily eating at Larrapin. Some people call it a ‘trash tree’ but after watching the birds’ delight, I never will!

—A Larrapin Garden  www.larrapin.us
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