Recent surprise visitors to the whoville birdfeeder

 As usual the birdfeeder has been busy with the usual chickadees, nuthatches, pine siskins, and the groundfeeders like the dark-eyed juncos and spotted towhees who manage to perch on the feeder even if they are a little large.

These two recent visitors are clearly too large. This blurry picture of the pileated woodpecker was all I could capture. The feeder was swinging madly from the weight and size of this bird. He wasn't sure how to get inside the feeder or how to get at the feed. Then he flew to a nearby tree where I could get some better shots.

 Then just a few days ago this downy woodpecker appeared on the feeder, scaring off all of the little ones. He worked his way around the feeder, trying to figure out how to get at the food.

He was successful and figured out how to perch sideways and reach in with her beak to get at the seed.

Who needs a suet feeder (which I couldn't do anyway).

 He's clearly too big for this little feeder.

Snack time.

It's nice to get something out of the ordinary. I never tire of watching the little birds, but these two were really special to see. You don't really get an idea of the size of the pileated woodpecker and from these photos the downy woodpecker looks larger, but the pileated really is quite a bit larger.

Hopefully they will return though because it is fun to see.