Found this little fella happily pecking away in the yard.

Does that mean there is a worm in my tree?

A classic!

I wonder how fast they move their necks when they do that…

Looks like a little Downy.

Sweet!

Looking for love....

quote:

Both sexes drum on trees to claim territories, attract mates, and signal readiness for mating.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/...ny_Woodpecker/sounds

Scientists are still trying to figure out how they manage to drum like that without hurting themselves...

Not sweet if it's your house. I have to repair woodpecker damage every year or two.

My worst encounter with a woodpecker was when the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker decided to set up shop on my property. I'm a bird lover, but the YBS gratuitously kills off trees. Any small holly is destroyed by its methods.

The bird drills small holes in the bark and laps up the sap that drips out. The problem is that it drills completely around the entire trunk, cutting the circulatory system from the upper tree to its root system. Within weeks the tree dies if the YBS is allowed to complete its drilling.

I've learned to communicate with birds. I never paid attention to them before now but there's an apple tree outside my bedroom (and the porch).

I bark at them once. They look at me. I bark twice. They fly away.

On the other hand, 'garden lizards' make friends with me and vice versa.

I'll see the same ones day after day. They remember me. I spend a few pleasant moments with them when I get the chance.