Birds on the move

 Migration is in full swing.  I have not seen many 'just traveling through' birds around the yard this year.  I see in my bird journal that last year I was feeding Pine Siskins like mad and used 60 lbs of sunflower seeds in one week.  Not so today.

My only newcomer is a little flock of Finch, and mostly females.  They are enjoying the 'diner' bird feeder.  I put seeds on the roof too, so we have seating on 2 levels.  They seem to like it.

On Thursday I had a little photo session with a female Northern Cardinal.  She has the prettiest crest of head feathers.  This is one of my favorite birds and I rarely see her as she primarily feeds at dusk & dawn.

Just as I was sitting at the computer to look at these images, I heard a loud squawk.  The Pileated Woodpecker, a female, was alerting to her presence.

I am serving quite a buffet of suet, so she stopped by for a snack.

So big and impressive.  I wonder if the little songbirds are intimidated by her.

Seems likely.