Flicker Feeding Frenzy!
Flicker at Larrapin (This one poking in the ground...)
I got to see an amazing site the other day. A group of five or more flickers in a feeding frenzy! The picture above, unfortunately, is not from that event, but it’s a snapshot I had of one of our local batch of flickers. This is how I most often see them, poking around on the ground under the blackjack oak, the pine trees or the magnolias, foraging for I’m-not-sure-what. (Oh! just read up at the flicker link above and turns out they eat mostly ants and beetles…so that explains the digging…)
The amazing group I got to see was chowing down on the seedheads of smooth sumac, a little tree that often grows along roadsides and fencelines around here. (See images below.) Most folks consider them kind of weedy, even invasive in places although they are a prairie native. But I have a whole new respect for them now after seeing that whole group of flickers flapping and fluttering on top of the little trees devouring the reddish seed heads! I watched for a long while as they would alight on the tips of the thin branches, then flap and flap to stay upright while the branch bent under the weight of the large birds, all while eating at top speed. Fall off. Fly up. Repeat. It was a lovely and unforgettable sight.
Smooth Sumac Via Google Images
Once again, I’m reminded that, to amend the cliche, one man’s trash may be one bird’s treasure. In a wildlife garden, if the birds love it, the gardener probably loves it too, um, with the possible exceptions of poison ivy and poke weed…
I remember living in Western North Carolina and the utility crews would come through every few years and cut down a large stand of sumac growing under the power lines. I always thought a little tree ID would go a long way with those folks, because what better to have under power lines than a plant that never gets higher than about ten feet and often shades/crowds out species that will grow taller? I’d never cared about the sumac-whackings till early one spring when I watched a large group of bluebirds, no doubt hungry at winter’s end, happily eating the seedheads…
So I’m happy we have a small stand of smooth sumac growing at the top of the property and a few along the northern border too, because the birds sure are enjoying it. And I sure am enjoying the birds.
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
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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.
Pine Creeper...ok, his rump anyway
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!
Female Downy Woodpecker, Our darling...
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!
My special darling, the Carolina Wren
All kinds of birds take turns at the blocks, like the Carolina Wrens.
Some are a bit piggish at the suet...
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…
Pine Creeper
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.
Traffic Jam
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
Posts most wednesdays & weekends. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/aLarrapinGarden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by—leave a comment as to what is going on in YOUR winter backyard…
