Sue's Blog - Some assembly required.

Woodpecker......what next?

A couple of weeks ago I heard a tap, tap, tapping coming from above the window in the kitchen.
It was quite loud and I thought it was a squirrel buggering about.
I went outside but couldn't see anything.
The next day the same thing was happening so this time I crept out and there, up high on the wooden siding of the house, pecking away like a jack hammer was a woodpecker.
A lot like the one above.
I, rather ridiculously on reflection, called out such nonsense as, "Go away." and "Get down from there."
The woodpecker didn't seem at all intimidated by my bellowing and carried on pecking.
He has made three holes so far.

I forgot about it until it started again when Philip was home.
It can be heard all over the house when he gets going.
Philip went out and chased him away, then he came back, Philip chased him away, then he came back.......and on and on.

After looking it up on the interwebs we were reliably informed that in the winter, with snow (and there is always snow here) and ice, the woodpeckers resort to attacking houses with wooden siding in their search for food.
They are hungry.   The advice is to feed them.  Preferably with suet blocks containing insects.
Great......another mouth to feed.
So, out we went and bought a couple of suet blocks and a feeder to put them in.
$20 well spent we hoped.

Philip hung it in the tree next to the house and back came the woodpecker - to the house, not the feeder.
Philip chased him away.  This time he just sat in the tree and squawked back at Philip.
He did not touch the suet block.
But, the squirrels did.  The next morning the feeder was lying under the tree in the snow but it had not a scrap of suet block left in it.
Sigh.........
I replaced the block and have now hung it from a pole.
I have also now learned that all that info about how the woodpeckers are hungry and searching for food was a load of rubbish.
No...they are not looking for food.  They are looking for a bit of 'slap and tickle'.
They are advertising themselves to any passing lady woodpeckers and also stating clearly that this is their territory.
Brilliant.
I don't feel so sorry for the little bugger now I know he isn't starving but simply singing the "song of his people" in the hope of a bit of nookie.

Yesterday I noticed one of the squirrels seemed to be hiding by the fence.
I then saw the red tail hawk in the tree.  I don't like him.

I know he is beautiful etc but I hate it when he takes one of the doves, squirrels or chipmunks.
I also know he has to eat but I wish he would go somewhere else to do it.

So, I went out and chased him away.  As he flapped slowly away I am sure I heard the squirrel give a sigh of relief.
I was telling Philip about the hawk when he came home and he said,  "Couldn't you have pointed out the woodpecker to him?"
That was rather mean wasn't it?

posted by Sue Banks @ 1:32 PM