Sapsuckers and homemade suet
I’ve been taking some short walk breaks at work during the afternoon, and on several of them late last week, I was thrilled to see my first yellow-bellied sapsucker! They are such cool birds! I love how they go around the tree in a circle and make these perfect horizontal rings of holes. Not great for the tree I imagine, but it shows a neat design in the bird. After they find a good sap spot, they start drilling vertically. Amazing!
Anyway, I was telling all this to my family Saturday morning as my son and I were making our first-ever batch of homemade suet. Literally as I’m saying the word sapsucker, I look outside and see one on the tree right beside our house! Now in our family, we don’t call that a coincidence; we take it as a gift from the Lord. So how excited were we to have this amazing creature as our guest for the weekend! It stayed all Saturday and most of Sunday, only flying away briefly to another tree if we came outside too quickly. This Bradford pear tree was clearly his favorite spot, and by Sunday afternoon, he had hacked it up good! These guys are so much fun to watch…what a gift!
By the end of Saturday, there were some poachers arriving to enjoy the fruits of the sapsucker’s labor! Not sure if the one on the left there is a goldfinch or not, but the bird on the right is one of our titmice. We also had some chickadees partaking as well.
The two pictures above are from late Sunday afternoon, and the one below is still early in the day on Saturday…pretty big difference. You can really see where the preferred sap spots were by the end of the weekend.
Finally, if you’ve been following the blog, you know we have a new bird-watcher on the way! Not much longer now…any day really! Dave
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What a gift, indeed! I saw one the other day (which would have been my first adult male) but it stayed only a second. That first shot is just so neat showing off the bird so well and the holes they drill - very nicely done! If you put suet out - it will only be a matter of time before those red-headed woodpeckers arrive and I will be so JEALOUS ;-)
Beautiful family you have - congrats on the new birdwatcher - can’t wait until the picture is on the blog, too!
Dave,
I have never seen a sapsucker except in a bird book and so enjoyed your journal of its visit. Wow, they really do hack away at that poor tree! Maybe you can entice him away from your pear tree with that great homemade suet! What a nice way to end the year than to add another nature lover to the nest! Wishing you all the best.
Dave, Congrats on the new bird lover in your family…. Keep me posted!!! Girl or Boy?????? I’m excited for you and your sweet family…
I’ve never seen a sapsucker before… That is a gorgeous bird. WOW!!!!
Again—congrats to you and yours!!!!
Prayers and Love,
Betsy
Dave,
Great post and beautiful family! I see those guys pretty often here and growing up in south Ga. I was always curious when I was a kid about those holes in a ring around the tree. Looked like someone shot the tree with a machine gun. Walking on your work breaks, what a great idea!!! Although some days I just want to sit and read bird blogs! LOL
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family,
Craig
How nice that you make suet for your feathered friends. Our guests have to make do with storebought. Glad you have those great birds.
Hey Dave, We’re going to be out-of-town (in Arkansas for a short vacation) from the 30th-5th—-so if the baby comes during this time, please email me. I’ll be anxious to hear all about the new addition to your family.
Hugs to ALL of you,
Betsy
We have a winner! Our baby boy was born last Wednesday morning and weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces. He is doing great, and we are all starting to recover (slowly) from a week of sleep deprivation. Big brother is very excited! I’ll post a few pics for you tonight or tomorrow…
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It is great to see how you involve the family in birding activities.The Sapsucker must have been a special blessing.Here’s hoping that all goes well when baby arrives.That will most certainly be a blessing sent from heaven.
Blessings,Ruth