The wonders of nature

I have been sitting here gazing out my den window at the woodpecker in this picture. Actually, this is a picture I took through the window with my digital camera a week or so ago. I took another one today and he look much fatter. He apparently comes to the same identical spot on this tree. He sat there for about 15 minutes, left for a few minutes, came back, and is still gracing that same spot!

My back yard has been full of doves, house wrens, cardinals (both male and female), black capped chickadees, bob whites, and a chipmunk. The bob whites have been scarce around our parts until this year. We have also been inundated with squirrels. They are pretty, but vicious when it comes to feeding the birds! Doesn't matter that you put feed out for both; they eat it all. And, they also destroy our feeders. We have successfully kept them out of two feeders by putting a wire underneath them on the pole that the squirrels can't get around. But the other feeders are close enough for them to jump from our small building to the feeders, or even shinny up the pole!

We also have the pleasure of seeing wild turkeys on our farm. We have seen as many as 16 together. But, the last time we saw them wondering across the pasture, it was only one single turkey or perhaps two. We think that they have either been shot or eaten by the coyotes. We really enjoy seeing them eating their way across the fields until they once again make it to the edge of the woods. Their stay is short lived, if you make any sudden moves. I have turned into our driveway, seen the turkeys and decided to stay put until they get out of our yard.

Deer is also very common around this part of the country. I have photographed them from the window in my bedroom. A deer has such keen hearing that one little movement can make them take off. My husband used to put out corn to draw them to our yard. We once had a large buck in our back yard. He had many antlers, but we couldn't get close enough to see how many or gauge his age. When he left, he was like a streak of lightning leaving our yard. Often, we see deer tracks in our pasture and even up around our house. Only a few months ago, we came in one Sunday afternoon to a scene we hate to see. A young deer had jumped in front of a young man in a curve. He had jumped our neighbor's fence coming across the road to our pasture and never made it. He finally died. And, a day or so later, another larger deer was hit by a car and knocked into our pasture. This is very common on the roads in this vicinity since we are in the country and the highways are heavily traveled with people going to the Interstate or to one of the surrounding towns.

Speaking of our 'resident' woodpecker, I just now looked and he is still pecking away at the same spot. Most woodpeckers I have seen on our trees work their way either up or around the tree in a short while. But something must be very good for this one to stay in that one spot! This has been the only woodpecker to come around this year. But, I look forward to seeing the others that usually come around. Check out all the woodpeckers at Woodpeckers of the World.

UPDATE: 2/17/08 My friend and I have come to the conclusion this is perhaps a yellow-bellied sapsucker rather than the woodpecker I originally thought it was. It did have a red section under the neck. After comparing it with a picture in the National Audubon Society book of birds, it is almost certainly the sapsucker. It was here again this morning with another woodpecker during our rain.

Linked at Conservative Cat

Technorati Tags: Nature, Woodpeckers, Deer, Birds, Wild Turkey