Eagles, woodpeckers and the price of bird seed

Time for a wildlife update, I think, here in Pennsylvania, especially as today we’ve had the pileated woodpecker back on the suet feeder (left, click to enlarge). What a splendid fellow! [The female does not have the red chin stripe.]

In the last week or two we’ve also had both an adult Bald Eagle (below, click to enlarge) and a youngster hunting over the lake plus a Cooper’s Hawk has been here a few times. I’ve been leaving the mice I’ve been catching in the attic out on a rock in the woods, perhaps Mr/Ms Cooper has been enjoying the snacks as the mice – fourteen so far, I think - usually disappear in just a couple of hours.

The pair of Hooded Mergansers amongst the Canada Geese on the lake got a bit of a shock when the eagle went over – they dived down and were never seen again, must have come up far far away. The much larger geese, of course, didn’t care. And we also had a pair of Common Mergansers, like their smaller hooded relations, pausing on their southerly migration.

The smaller birds have been getting stuck in to the black oil sunflower seed, especially now it’s getting colder, 20F (-7C) when I put the feeders out this morning. I bought 40lb (18kg) on 2 September, another 50lb (23kg) on 15 October and we'd run out by 30 November. That’s 90lb (41kg) in 90 days. A pound a day – turns out simpler in old measures, doesn’t it. Works out at 58 cents (37 pence) a day. And there’s suet, and also nyjer seed for the goldfinches as well.

Worth every penny. And the mouse I put out four hours ago has gone.

Both pictures, by the way, taken through the kitchen window.