Watching A Favorite Juvenile

As I have reported in a number of posts, 2009 has been a good year for the nesting birds. We have seen confirmed juveniles from more than eight species, and I am certain of a couple of others whose juveniles are much tougher to pick out. One of my favorite youngsters from the season is "Junior", a male Red Bellied Woodpecker. Junior figured out the suet feeders fairly early and is a regular, and he is on a different schedule than his father! He's a hoot to watch: predictably quirky, gentle in manner, and an enthusiastic suet gourmand. Junior is looking less like a buzzard every day. His head feathers are filling in nicely and he definitely looks healthy, so I expect him to cruise through the winter and no doubt will be pounding on the gutters and chimney cap next spring!