The Woodpeckers Have Returned...It Must Be Fall!

I haven't seen a Pileated Woodpecker for about a year!

I was thrilled to see this one in my backyard yesterday!

It flew back and forth between my neighbors yard and mine. There was some dead wood on the other side of the fence...I think it found some bugs!

But it also liked my trees and spent time in several of them. 

When I took these photos of this Hairy Woodpecker, I was inside looking out...and all I had at hand was my macro lens attached to the camera. It worked well enough but it would have been better to have the zoom. 

I was just happy to capture it at all. I haven't seen a large Hairy Woodpecker since last year, either. They are pretty big. They look like the smaller, Downy Woodpeckers, but are much larger.

This is probably the same one, up in a tree. Hunting for bugs, just as the Pileated Woodpecker was doing.

Here is another one, but it's a female, because there is no red on it's head.

The White-Breasted Nuthatches are back, too. This one kept coming to the empty feeder I'd left up all summer. So I finally put some hulled sunflower seed in and he was a happy camper! I'd left the feeder empty all summer because it attracts squirrels and I was trying to discourage them from digging up my garden.

Nuthatches aren't woodpeckers, but I enjoy seeing them, too. Here's what they look like from a 'normal' perspective...although 'normal' for them is sideways, crawling up and down trees. They would be just as happy eating bugs from the trees but they knew that feeder was there and they were just itching to get a seed...so I gave in and filled it.

 You know what that means, don't you? The squirrels will start having a heyday in my gardens...but that's okay...it's autumn, and there are no more tender plants popping up. They can't really hurt anything. I'm looking forward to seeing this season in all it's glory as the summer plants go to seed and the flowers wind down. It's time. It can't be stopped. So I might as well just embrace it!

How about you? Are you able to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new? The autumn season does offer beauty. Just look for it, it's there!

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

First Dusting of Snow

We are now into our third snowfall here in northern Virginia so before we proceed with current weather updates, I invite you to compare the following photos with those from my last post in mid-December

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Echinacea (coneflower)

and you will see just what a little dusting of snow will do for a garden.

While some people might think a garden left uncut looks wild and unkempt

Seed heads of coneflower

I have become more relaxed in my attitude about fall 'clean-up'.

It isn't the neatest nor the most 'manicured' gardening style

Rosa 'flower carpet red'

but it sure does encourage a second look, once the white stuff comes along.

What do you think?

Aster

Would you rather a garden be cut all the way back in the fall to eliminate the remaining dead stalks?

Agastache (Anise hyssop) seed heads

Or do you, like me, appreciate a landscape highlighted by this natural beauty?

My area is now in the beginning stages of a Nor'easter that is making its way up the coast from South Carolina to Maine.

Rose hips

There will be perhaps six inches of snow here, when all is said and done--which is not much, when we take into account the amount of snow southern states have recently received and the amount predicted for places north of here.

ANY amount of snow is exciting here, however, as the birds never fail to make an appearance in the garden. In my next post, I'll introduce our avian visitors that have stopped by during the past week. Here's a sneak peek:

Pileated Woodpecker on suet feeder

*This post is being linked to Nancy Bond's blog Leaping Greenly, for the 'First Snowfall Project' which she hosts each winter. Be sure to hop over there to see first snowfall garden photos from around the world!


Today I am thankful for the first dusting of snow which has fallen on the stalks that remain in the garden -- adding variety to the landscape.

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble

Written by Jan @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/ Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Jan's Winter Backyard Bird Series: #6

This winter, I have seen and photographed a wide variety of birds in my own backyard.

Here is Mrs. Pileated Woodpecker:

She stops by to eat from my suet holder or just to peck (hammer!) away at my trees.
She hasn't done any real damage overall, so I am still pleased to see her when she wants to drop in. Sometimes she'll bring along Mr. Pileated, and that can sound a little like a construction project!
Next, is Mr. (or Mrs?) Crow. He definitely is not my favorite, but since his visits are rare, I'm ok with him stopping by. Sometimes he hangs out here with his friends and they can be quite noisey.



One of the most intriguing birds, to me, is the Cedar Waxwing. Mr. and Mrs. Cedar Waxwing are both virtually the same color, so it is very hard to distinguish one from the other. Many birds have this feature (see Crow, above). However, it does seem more common--in the 'colorful' bird category, that is--for the male to stand out more than the female.
Below, a Waxwing drinks from the birdbath...

From

posing so nicely, with the red on the wing and the yellow on the tail like paint on the tips of paintbrushes. I just had to snap this lovely bird twice (although you know I took about 1,000 million shots to get these good ones:)

Below, a younger--though not a 'juvenile'--Waxwing turns to look around. The red-tips aren't as visible until the bird begins to age. In time, this bird will look as if it's wings were dipped in red paint, too.

Stay tuned for more photos in my Winter Backyard Birds Series, 2008-2009.
--I'm thankful, as always, for my feathered friends.