Small woodpecker

Because woodpeckers were attacking the houses in our townhouse section I began feeding birds. The woodpeckers attacking were bigger than this type but now this little type come to visit and eat the seeds too. 

BTW, the extortion worked, they don’t attack our houses anymore. 

Russia is releasing six more Ukrainian children. I remember a zillion years ago when I was an undergraduate in a political science class one of the discussions was why some countries should have relations with bad countries. Someone has to be able to talk to kidnappers and get children released. Note that they are also involved in the negotiations to get Hamas to release hostages. They helped get Americans released from Iran. 

Three Ukrainian teenagers fled Russia recently. As teens they are more likely to be able to get out on their own but it is still hard because they legally can’t leave alone. As teens, they are a bigger threat to Russia because they can testify that they weren’t taken for their own safety. 

Russian arms makers are in real financial trouble because they can’t export weapons anymore. So sad.