A red-bellied woodpecker (actually a Northern Flicker!)

Thanks to Randy, I know the woodpecker we watched yesterday morning (and thought was a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker), was actually a Northern Flicker.  I don't think we'd seen one before.

It caught our attention, foraging in the old stump below the porch, rhythmically working the decaying wood, snagging insects and their larvae in the process.

(In looking up info about the Northern Flicker, they forage largely on the ground, for ants -- cool!)

It had seemed unusual to see a woodpecker foraging on a stump, but maybe I haven't had one to observe before. We're still waiting for woodpeckers to discover the new suet feeder, an elaborate cedar log with holes to stuff with suet. The titmice have found it, though, and they're happy for the extra energy, apparently.

Feeder birds

After we filled up the feeders, the parade started soon.

Groups of 2 & 3 visitors at a time nabbed a few seeds and gave their place to the waiting multitudes, who arrived from surrounding trees. This was not entirely peaceful, including disagreements about the 'pecking order.'

I wouldn't have thought that we'd have so many Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, and who knows what else living in the woods behind our small mountain house.

It was definitely a parade.