Weekend Birding: The Peanut Feeder
Winter is the slow season for bird-watching. The migrants have headed south leaving us folks in the north with the year-round residents and the winter migrants.
At times there is more bird activity in my backyard than I see while walking on the nature trails.
The peanut feeder is very popular and receives a lot of visitors. The woodpeckers and the aptly named nuthatches are very fond of peanuts. The little nuthatch, above, can always be counted on to pause for a moment and pose for a photo.
One of my favorite backyard birds is the Red-bellied Woodpecker. He does have a red belly but you can’t see it in this photo. He is in my yard everyday and stashes peanuts in crevices in the trees. I always wonder how he remembers where he put them.
The little Downy Woodpeckers, below, are also daily visitors at the peanut feeder.
As you can see my peanut feeder is a little banged up. Besides getting a lot of use from the birds, the Fox Squirrels love to jump up on it and attempt to break in. Even with the squirrel deterrent cone on the pole they occasionally manage to get up there. And I know when they’ve been there because they pull the metal perch out in frustration when they can’t get to the peanuts.
The Gray Squirrels, below, are content to eat nuts and seeds that fall to the ground.
I took these photos in November but we still don’t have any snow, just a little frost on the now brownish colored grass.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 
I didn’t realise there were so many different types of woodpecker. The red belly one is gorgeous.
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There are 7 woodpecker species that can be seen in my area, 5 of them have visited my yard. They are all beautiful birds. I’ll have to feature just woodpeckers one week.
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Oh I hope you do feature woodpeckers one week! We don’t have woodpeckers down in Australia. I was very keen to see one in Texas a year or so ago, but didn’t get the chance to. I love your photos this week. How fantastic to have these beautiful birds visiting your yard. We don’t have squirrels here either, so am completely fascinated by them too.
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Oh wow, woodpeckers! How lovely.
Great photos.
carol
DizzyC
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Great bird photos, particularly the top one. I get grey squirrels in my back garden, and am going to try and photograph one before next Saturday. The squirrels are very naughty, as they rip open any bird feeders, and hide peanuts that then grow in all corners of my garden.
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I have gone to great lengths to keep the squirrels from getting into the feeders and bird seed. Whenever I think I’ve got them beat, they figure out a new way. Right now we are at a stand-off. No attacks on the feeders for about 6 months… a record in my yard.
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Seems like everyone is doing bird photos today! I love them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nuthatch before. Adorable!
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I post bird photos or something birdish every weekend for my Weekend Birding series.
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I love the birds enjoying a snack. The squirrels made me laugh. They can be so annoying – especially where bird feeders are concerned but they almost never fail to entertain.
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I have some funny pics of squirrels hanging by their feet and using their hands to reach into the little openings on one of the feeders. They are such clowns!
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That Red-bellied Woodpecker is gorgeous! And what a popular backyard you have! I can see why, though; those feeders are awesome.
Here’s MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST
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I like to think the birds like me, but I think they like the five feeders and the heated bath!
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Our part of the world, here along the Texas Gulf Coast, is supposed to be a big spot for birders. I have a bird feeder just outside my window and we get lots of sparrows and the occasional cardinal and woodpecker along with mockingbirds, but that’s about it. Wonder what I’m doing wrong?
Here’s my Saturday Snapshot. I hope you will stop by! And Happy New Year!
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You must mean High Island. I haven’t been there (yet) but I hear it’s like heaven for bird watchers, especially in the spring.
The type of feeder you put up and the type of seed you offer usually determines what birds will visit. House Sparrows eat anything. I didn’t get woodpeckers until I offered suet, they love that. If you are only going to serve one type of seed, black oiled sunflower is the most popular. My busiest feeder is a hanging open tray feeder and I serve a mixed blend of seeds.
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The red-bellied woodpecker is gorgeous! I’m not so fond of having them in our yard, though – we had a woodpecker do a lot of damage to our house a few years ago.
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If one of them decides they want to nest in your eaves they can be destructive. I don’t know what causes them to do that, I’ve never had that happen in my yard. Occasionally one will try to stuff seeds under the roof shingles… and then they go back to the trees.
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These are amazing photos of birds! I am such a bird nerd, I love to watch the birds at my bird feeders. My cats like it too. Your nuthatch shot is beautiful, crisp and clean with great colors!
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These birds are regular visitors to my yard and they aren’t fearful of me. I can sit out on the deck and get good closeups of them.
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I’ve been missing your photos and commentary on birds. Great photo! And thanks for stopping by my blog.
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Glad you could stop by for a visit.
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Great shots! It’s great that your bird feeder attracts to many varieties, and even the squirrels, LOL. I won’t put a feeder up, my Cat would take too much advantage… Book Savvy Babe
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What a lot of birds, and such great pics! I don’t see such a variety in my yard, although the blue jays love stealing peanuts from my neighbour — and as he is feeding squirrels I always cheer for the blue jays!
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I put peanuts in the shell in the tray feeder for my Blue Jays. They love it. One stops by every morning and calls for me if there are no peanuts. They are very smart!
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Whenever I see your bird feeders and the lovely bird photos, I want to put up some feeders in my backyard. Someday I will, I just need to find the right supplies and convenient places to put them. 🙂 Something to look forward to – maybe I’ll enlist my boys’ help and make it a family project.
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Selecting the right feeders, types of seed and the optimal location for each took a few years. But now I am squirrel resistant and have a variety of happy birds. And since every yard is different, you’ll have lots of fun with that. I bet the boys will love it.
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Oh….how pretty…thanks.
Mine is a snowy/icy photo.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Saturday Snapshot
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Wonderful images!
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I just love your photos! You capture such great shots of nature. They are clever little critters aren’t they? Beautiful pictures! 🙂
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Gorgeous photos again. My husband loves bird feeders and we don’t have a peanut feeder. Maybe I need to get him one. We have a suet feeder and a seed feeder. The finches were going crazy when the seed feeder was covered with snow and they couldn’t land on it. I had to go out and knock the snow off it, causing some seeds to fall onto the snow. They loved that. Here’s Mine
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Love the birds, especially the woodpecker. We used to have dozens of squirrels in our yard because we had 12 trees, but we cut some down and now only see a few.
My SS
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Those photos are amazing! Especially the first of the nuthatcher from the side 😀
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The red-bellied woodpecker looks really exotic – much more colourful than any of our British birds! My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/dgFw0
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The shot of that red headed woodpecker is just phenomenal! Love that you can see the grain in the feathers and down!
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These photos are beautiful! I think the nuthatch is posing for you! He almost looks like he’s smiling.
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For some reason I haven’t seen many woodpeckers this year? Loved the shots!
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I love the woodpeckers! We get quite a few.
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Squirrels!!!! Love that!
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Excellent photos! I have Nuthatches and Hairy and Downy woodpeckers, but I haven’t seen a Red-bellied Woodpecker in years!
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