Woody the pecker and the indentity crisis

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

When I was small, that is what I called Woody the Woodpecker. I have tons of woodpeckers (and other birds for that matter) on my deck now, feeding. I have one that is having somewhat of an identity crisis though. He is feeding a female cardinal...which is well, VERY rare!
Typically, cardinals don't associate with woodpeckers and vice versa. When this first happened, it was quite comical. The female cardinal just looked at the woodpecker, and you could almost see the think bubble above "Dude, why are you getting close to me and WHY are you looking at me that way?", and she would side scoot away. The woodpecker, still with a seed in his mouth, sidled closer to her, while she pretended to look away...this went on all around one side of the deck, until finally, she must have thought "ok, feed this seed, then go away"...that was 3 days ago.
Meantime, I have an audience of my chipmunk, who we have named Hoover (he sucks all the leftover seeds and will just keep sucking and fall off the deck because he doesn't look up)a Bluejay, who is, in my mind- laughing his butt off, and a chickadee, who normally stays away from the bluejay...all just watching this.
I look at my guy and said "Wow, I wonder where the male cardinal is- they are pretty territorial." Without missing a beat, he says "oh he's the idiot that's out here buying curtains, and making the nest just so while she's out there not only getting wined and dined by another bird...but by another species AND his sworn enemy"...yeah, gotta love that romantic man!
Meanwhile...back on the deck- the romance continues. I have been trying to get a picture, but they always fly away when they see me.
I do see the male cardinal come around, then she will fly off with him...but she always comes back, and the woodpecker always knows when she's there, and somehow, the crowds gather...and story continues.
Stay tuned.



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