Cool Season Buddies

I don't quite understand it, but I am much more attuned to woodpeckers in the colder months, and especially so in deep autumn. It isn't a function of greater species counts--we only add one species in winter (Yellow Bellied Sapsucker). Maybe instead it is the almost comforting sight they have working suet in regular waves that helps get my mind off the shorter days and colder nights. Come late November I expect to see all of our feeder species in fair numbers---Flickers, Red Bellieds, Downys (shown), and even a few Hairys for good measure. And all of them will be banging away at the four suet cakes hung here and there about the property. They're good fall buddies, I think. Dependable, unassuming, and fairly tolerant of the guy behind the window.