• Friday-What'sUP December 18 - 11:03 pm

The Downy Woodpecker is a relatively small woodpecker and is considered the most common in North America. They're often confused with the Hairy Woodpecker, but are smaller in size, so that will help you distinguish between the two should they visit your backyard feeder. Z-Man shares two shots he recently acquired right in his own backyard. He said he even had a visit from one of those big guys... the Pileated Woodpecker, but didn't get a chance at a shot of him. We've been successful attracting both the Downy and the Hairy woodpeckers to our feeders with suet, seems they just love that high fat diet!

Good morning all!

Such cute pictures. Have some of these in my yard, too.

Besides the proverbial Mocking Bird and the Grackle, we don't see many pretty little birds. Thanks for this greeting so early in the morning. We never get my favorite, Chickadee.

We always fed the birds when we lived in Eagle River. It was surprising to see how many different kinds of birds stayed for winter in the U.P. I remember once we ran out of suet so I just put out a small pail of bird seed and hug it in the tree not thinking that the deer would want some of it as well. I don't think the birds got to much of it as I didn't hang it high enough. I guess it was a treet for the deer and a change from the hay we would put out for them. They got use to us puting it out for them and would be waiting for us to get home at night to put their dinner out.

I wish I had a decent camera to get a shot like that. Our suet & feeder attract the Downy, Hairy and Red-belly woodpeckers. Red-bellies have a bright red stripe from the beak all the way over the top to the nape of their neck.
Margaret - Just last summer was the first time I'd seen a Mockingbird this far north. No mistaking that musical loud-mouth. First time I saw one was on my one and only trip to Dallas.

By the way.....what kind of camera and lens was used to capture that wonderful shot?
Best wishes,
Renee in AL

Great photos! Speaking of different kids of birds hanging around. I had a treat awhile back when a rather pretty owl was hooting & hanging out in my maple tree in the backyard. Unfortunately I must have scared it off with my flashlight while trying to get a better look, as it hasn't been back since. These small gifts from the man above make my days!
Merry CHRISTmas.

A very nice clean, crisp photograph from brother Zman. Did you use a tripod and did you use your flash? Also did you use your traditional bird photography environment this time. Thanks for being such a fine friend and teacher.

Great photos, Z-man. The tilt of the head in the first photo distinguishes it from the others we see in books and magazines. That reminds me, I'm out of oilers and need to replace my suet.

At a local nature center, we see a lot of the litle woodpeckers, though I suspect they are Hairy rather than Downy. People scatter seeds on the path, attracting the woodpeckers, nuthatches, tufted titmice and chickadees. The chickadees are willing to feed from your hand, provided you stand still and stand close to bushes & trees so they feel safe.

Great photos! I love watching birds. I have noticed there seem to be more woodpeckers this year. I find sitting by my kitchen window with a hot cup of coffee is a wonderful way to relax. I also had a pileated woodpecker visit my feeder twice. It was huge and so beautiful. The bluejays even respected his/her space and stayed away. Hope to see it again. But chickadees are my favorite, they even sing to you when refilling the feeder. Enjoy the small pleasures life gives us.

You can distinguish the downys from the hairys by the bill size. downy bills are smaller, while the hairy bill is the length as the length of the head.

I'm coming up next week with my binoculars - haven't done any winter birding in the UP for a few years. Last time was the christmas bird count when we saw a Great Gray Owl up in the northern reaches of Houghton County somewhere.

If you want to know what camera was used for a photo just go into the photographers albums and select a photo and select photo properties.

That first one is such a cool shot.

If I turned my head that far, I don't think it would ever come back.

lol

Great Shot. Couple more years and I hope to be in the UP doing similar things. It is really a treat to be able to view the many photos that are submitted every day.

rwo

Saw a huge Piliated woodpeaker in the U.P
once! It was a real suprise to see one
that large...

My favorite kind of shot...close ups of animals. So intriguing, thank you for the beautiful photos every day.

Alright Mary now you've gone and done it!!! Those pictures remind me of one of my favorite pastimes in the UP, backyard birdwatching. Now your just going to force Dr. Nat and I to move back to Calumet aren't you?? ;-) We used to have so many different birds at our feeders. This time of the year we got a lot of redpolls and snow buntings from Canada. Also had a few goldfinches that would stay the winter as well as a few grosbecks. We also had the woodpecker trio (downy, hairy, and pileated) quite regularly. They always seem to like suit with peanuts or peanut butter smeared on the best, especially the big guy.

As far as camera equipment, I have always shot 35mm SLR with a good zoom lens from my dining room through a plate glass window. The photos always came out great and if I got brave, I'd go outside and sit and wait for the birds to come in to the feeders to get some spectacular photos. It also worked for the occasional deer, bear, or wolf that would stroll through, though I stayed inside when the bear came for a visit ;-)

nice

Great looking bird-the Woodpecker,
Thanks Z-Man

What great photos. They are so close and so nice and clear. The Christmas bird count in our area is tomorrow, and hope the count will be good.

This is strange! I took a very similar picture of a downy woodpecker a few days ago, but I'm 1500 miles south of the U.P in Florida. I wish there was a place were I could post my pic, oh well. By the way, my Godparents who live in L'anse sent me some pasty's via UPS and they were delicious!