by I think I credited Betsy with taking the woodpecker picture, when it was really Karen, is that right? And you guys are sisters?? Did I know that?? I’m sorry if I missed the obvious and you already told me this!
And check out this picture of Karen’s bluebird. STUNNING. STUN! NING!
The downy is mine along with the bluebirds.
The pileated is Betsy’s father’s via a picture taken by Betsy’s sister. (I hope that’s right).
No relation between Betsy and myself except for birdwatching.
I’m super envious of the pileated woodpecker. That sucker is 16 inches long with a wingspread of 29 inches. My little downy is only 6 inches long with a wingspread of 12 inches – so it is just a little bigger than a third of the size of the pileated.
You got it right Karen (NC). The pileated was taken by my sister Karen, Indiana(born in 1955), but I sent it to Stacy. What do you have in that feeder that the bluebirds are enjoying so much? Something unshelled right? I had a pair nesting in a dead birch tree in my backyard this past summer. What a treat that was. Great picture by the way!
Betsy:
I originally had safflower seed in that particular feeder (I have six), but was getting knee-deep in the shells. I changed it to sunflower chips and, voila!, tons and tons of bluebirds.
You’re right – the unshelled sunflower seed was the ticket to attracting them. I’m getting up to eight at a time on that feeder. Surprising since it’s in a garden surrounded by a six-foot high privacy fence, but the goldfinches are showing up, too.
Nice.