The Birds' Buffet

Cold and snowy weather this morning, and Harvey and Kyle didn't show up with their usual pocket full of peanuts for the birds and squirrels. I diligently walked the paths trying to track down some cooperative birds to pose for my camera, but my luck wasn't good. I captured two shots of a lovely doe standing in the snow, white flakes drifting down onto her head. I watched a squirrel stick her head into the white blanket of fluffy stuff until it was completely hidden from sight and come up with snow on her head and an acorn in her mouth. How did she know it was there? I wondered.

Then I made my way back to the "Birds' Buffet, the tree where Harvey usually scatters peanuts, and to my delight, someone else had come along and scattered bird seed. The branches of the tree were filled with a constantly changing flocks of woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, and more. They would fly into the tree, perch on a branch, eye the seeds spread on the ground, and dive down to pick up a seed. Back to the branch to enjoy their treat, and then they would repeat the sequence again and again and again. Except for the nuthatches. They flew to the trunk of the tree and then walked down the trunk to the ground to pick up the seed they had selected from the buffet. That is typical nuthatch behavior. I watched (and blipped) for a long time, until my toes began to complain that it was time to go home and thaw out.

The nuthatch pictured above had walked down the tree trunk and paused on the fence post before diving into the fray. She may have been scanning the tree branches to find out who she was competing against for the tasty morsels on the ground below.

I posted the other picture here if you would enjoy a wee walk in the woods without freezing your toes.