Back off, Dude!

Not quite in focus, but captured a moment of drama that I like very much... Downy woodpeckers hang out in loosely formed "feeding flocks" in the winter with titmice, nuthatches and chickadees - they take advantage of the flock to warn of danger and to find food.  The latter isn't much of a problem in our yard, although recent unwanted visitors (ahem, I'm talking about YOU, bears) have forced me to have only one suet feeder out.  And that, in turn, has led to some ruffled feathers, so to speak, among the downies who favor suet above all things and don't really like to share.  

Now, usually in the non-breeding season, the male woodpeckers rule at the feeders and you'll often see a female waiting impatiently off to one side while a male enjoys a nice leisurely meal of suet.  Today, however, the female was at the feeder first and refused to yield.  When the male continued to try to move in, she went after him, chasing him around the branch repeatedly until he finally flew off.  It was very comical to watch.  By my best count, there are at least six downy woodpeckers out there right now.  Promises to be a good summer if they can all avoid the hawks this winter.

Three other shots on Flickr, starting HERE with a nuthatch and following with an awkward moment and a mirror-image...

Thanks for the lovely comments yesterday.  I must say that Hubs and I miss the days when we used to host Christmas with his parents, mine, and his sister.  Time and distance have made those holiday gatherings impossible to pull off now, but we are still very blessed to have good friends to share special holidays with.  And, of course, we always have each other...

Happy Boxing Day or St. Stephen's Day or Wren's Day (according to Wiki, this is what today is called in Ireland) - it would have been fun to catch a shot of a wren today but they weren't being at all cooperative.  

Cheers.  And only only six more sleeps in 2015...