...Comin' in hot!

In car racing, when the driver comes careening into the pits, it is common to hear the crew scream "he's comin' in hot!" as they dive out of the way. Well, at least this is common in the kind of racing my husband does. Maybe Schumacher's team never actually screamed, it's hard to say.

But I digress. This morning as I was enjoying my tea, Mr. Red-bellied WP came screeching into the suet feeder, flipped around on the branch, flapped his wings, chucked at me, grabbed some suet and took off. It was quite a bit of excitement for me so early in the day. Apparently quite a bit of excitement for him too. After that, it was a steady stream to the suet - grackles, blue jays, chickadees, nuthatches, downy wp's, titmice, catbirds and a chipping sparrow. They definitely like the suet. My guess is that they are all looking for extra protein right now as they raise babies and/or lay eggs. But what do I know. Maybe they just like Deb's Famous Peanut Butter Suet.

His red belly is best viewed in LARGE.

Thanks to everyone who voted for my photo in the about.com/wildbird photo contest - I am currently in the lead but I think the polls are open for several more days, so who knows. Several of you asked what the winner gets - basically, the winner gets bragging rights, for all that they are worth. I have been cautiously entering a few contests during the last few months, kind of putting my toe in the water, as it were. Being that this is a very small, friendly competition, I thought it was a good place to start. I really appreciate all your support - thank you!!!

It is very nearly 5 in the evening - I think that it may be cocktail hour which means that a nice chilled glass of savignon blanc would be in order. Anyone care to join me? Salute!