Wild Bird Wednesday

My work has been very busy for the past week or so, with no sign of letting up, so I haven't had as much time to blog as I would like.  I'm trying to keep up with 2 posts a week for now.  Yesterday on a break from my work, I took a wander around the woods in my yard to see what I might find, and I was well rewarded!

The chickadees were in their usual frenzy for seeds, and I carry a little jar with me so I can keep up feeding them by hand while looking for other birds.  I feel that the activity and chattering of the chickadees actually brings in other curious birds who are looking for a snack.  Yesterday, I managed to see both the hairy and downy woodpeckers who came to visit with the chickadees.

Here is the smaller, downy woodpecker - this one is a male as you can see from the red on the back of his head.

Here is the somewhat larger hairy woodpecker - this time a female.  She came really close, watching the chickadees taking seed from my hand.  She probably thinks they're crazy!

She would rather be looking for insects on the bark of the trees.

I then heard large wing beats go past my head, and thought a crow was coming to visit.  Imagine my surprise when I looked up to see the huge pileated woodpecker on a trunk just above me.  This picture isn't cropped at all - it was really close!  Their wingspan is over 2 feet - they are definitely large birds.

This one is a female - the male has red on that patch just under the eye, whereas the female has black. This was the first time I'd seen one at our new home, and the first time I'd seen one in many years, actually.  I was really pleased.  She flew to another tree a bit further away and did some drilling.

This is another new bird I saw yesterday for the first time - the blue-headed vireo.  The picture isn't great, but it was staying high in the tree, and I didn't have good photo opportunities.  It is distinguished by the clear white eye ring and the darker spot underneath the eye, as well as the light under-belly area and faint yellow colouring, as well as the wing patterns.  I'm hoping to have better photo opportunities for this bird soon.

A little bonus bird - a juvenile cedar waxwing I spotted on my waterfowl park visit last week.

Linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday!