-
Winter Visitor – Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
It was a good morning for birding, including spotting my first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) of the season. This is a male who was happy to model for me. These woodpeckers for the most part eat arthropods, along with fruits and berries, tree sap, nuts, bast (inner bark of trees), and tree buds. I’m always…
-
Brown Thrasher
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum). Quite the handsome bird. It makes me think of a Roadrunner with its very long tail and long curved bill. They’re here during their breeding season but are year round in the deeper Southeast. The feeders here at my cabin don’t tempt them, not even the suet, but they love my…
-
White-breasted Nuthatch
Yesterday’s post was about an irruptive visitor. The tiny Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) who shows up in the woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia, if its usual seed supply is less than optimal. But there’s another Nuthatch that lives here all year long. The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). It is fun to…
-
Red-breasted Nuthatch
A little feathered creature that I see some winters. A bird that is said to be “irruptive,” meaning it depends on the seed supply where it normally spends its winters. In years when the seeds of pine, spruce, and fir trees are not plentiful these birds will venture into areas where they are not normally…