Wee Woodies

Downy Woodpeckers are the smallest woodpecker in North America, and if you look closely you’ll notice they have bristles around their nostrils. These bristles keep out wood chips and sawdust while they build nests in dead trees or excavate insects from tree bark • I’ve had some suet out since September but today I kicked it up a notch and added three more due to the colder overnight temperatures. The feeders have become increasingly busy both in the morning and mid afternoon right before sunset. I recently observed two pileated woodpeckers fly overhead and today a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers called from a nearby tree. I swear I heard a chorus of “su-et, su-et” • Woodpeckers, nuthatches, bluejays, titmice and chickadees will all be happy little birds at their next visit, as long as the gang of chunky gray squirrels don’t eat all of it first!