Breakfast with the Woodpecker

Source, Dave Shafer/Flickr

I like to watch the morning come, so when the weather permits, I open the windows and the door to the screened-in back porch when I get up so that I can hear the first bird songs and watch the world come alive. 

John does not like to watch the morning come, so he usually sleeps in a bit.   We have our breakfast together when he is up, and sitting at our dining room table we can see the back yard and watch the birds feeding at the feeder.  The birds are often a topic of conversation as we eat.

We have had a feeder in this location since we first moved here and have a number of different species that visit the feeder regularly.  During the migration season we always see some new birds coming by—tourists, we call them.

A couple of years ago we added a suet feeder that was supposed to attract woodpeckers.  When we put it up, right on cue, a woodpecker began to feed at the feeder.  

John still asks, “Now how did that woodpecker know that feeder was there?” 

 

We still haven’t answered that question, but we’re always pleased to have his company.  And unless the raccoon has made off with the suet during the night, he’s there to have breakfast with us most mornings.