THIS is a Woodpecker!

I always thought the Red-bellied Woodpeckers were a fair sized bird until this morning, when one of their relatives landed on the suet feeder. This is a Pileated Woodpecker, who makes the other woodpeckers look a little small. There was a Downy on the other feeder that looked about as big as this one's head.

Fall Color

Migrant ducks finally started appearing at Huntley Meadows Park not too long ago- this is a male Pintail, one of my favorite ducks. I think this is a very classy color scheme. I hadn't even realized that they have a very pretty green marking on their wings, which can be seen if you click on the photo. The female Pintail is a little drabber.

Progress Isn't Always Wonderful

It's been a while since I've posted- I've been traveling a lot. This week has been pretty wild weather wise- lots of rain and temperatures in the 60's early in the week and temps in the low 40's today. Running some errands in Tysons Corner Tuesday and had a surprise land on the windshield as it was pouring rain- a Red-banded Hairstreak like the one pictured. A little late for this species- they're normally gone by September.

In other news, the yard has been put to bed- dead growth pulled up, a nice blanket of shredded leaves put on various beds, a native wildflower bed with various Monarch attracting flowers has been planted, a packet of Purple Milkweed seed (I tried raising some from seed this year but one species didn't germinate, so we'll give Winter a chance to give the seeds a nice freeze) has been put in
nearby, and a few more Crocus and Daffodils have gone in in various spots.

The bad news is that an overgrown and abandoned area near us that was a haven for various sparrows and Goldfinches is now under construction, so we'll see what that does with the feeder population this Winter.