Bird Watching: Daily Bird Pics (and Conversation) #452, 4 by nutsaboutnature

nutsaboutnature wrote:
irisMA ~ we switch to upside-down suet feeders in Spring to cut down on Blackbird / Bluejay / Starling activity. It definitely helps since it allows the Woodpeckers to eat, but the suet still empties quickly as, inevitably, some of those other guys figure out how to hang just long enough to knock chunks of suet to the ground.

I brought my camera when I went to run some errands a few days ago and stopped at a park on the Fox River on my way home. Didn't get too many good pics, but had fun. My battery was running low so eventually got back into my car to leave.

No sooner had I started the engine when a Great Blue Heron flew by about 20 feet from me (of course!). I quickly turned off the engine and got back out when I saw it land on a private pier right near by. I started taking some pictures even though the angle wasn't great planning to get closer if it took off again. But of course my battery went dead and that was the end of it...oh well!

Here are some of the...not so great...images and a few others as well...also not so great...but hey.

1 and 2- First a female then a male Red-bellied Woodpecker

The last three - Mallard Drakes
We have a pair of Mallards that visit us (and eat corn) several times a day each Spring (for about the last 8 years!), but it's fun to watch bunches of them playing in the river.