First woodpecker sighting!

[darkcedars]

Snowed a bit in the night, not a lot but enough to be a pain. Mushy icy snow. The sparrows gave me a piece of their mind when I went out to do the water and food. They didn't even wait for me to get in the house. 

A little later I went out to scrape bad spots on the sidewalk and sprinkle a little ice melt (I nearly fell this morning putting out the trash bin). Came around the corner and saw a bird on the suet cage! It  flitted up to the oak branch above and gave me a hard stare, so even with my poor vision I saw it very clearly. Went inside and checked Merlin:

Downy woodpecker - female

When I listened to the call recordings in I have definitely heard this bird many times. 

Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is cloudy and chilly. Last night it was supposed to snow a lot. We got a little rain and a little snow. Most of the snow has melted off by now, and what's left is slush. I saw a few desultory flakes drifting down earlier today, but nothing more than that.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows in the forest garden, a starling and a female downy woodpecker on the suet cage.