This is a persistent woodpecker who has been working the trees arrayed around the back deck. It may be the sapsucker, or a compatriot, we have already spotted. It may be a downy [hairy] woodpecker – it has a large beak which would distinguish it from the hairy [downy] woodpecker which looks very similar. [edited 5/17/15]
Later in the afternoon, a squadron of these small birds flit around, sometimes noisily, and do whatever they do. They are not woodpeckers and do not appear to be eating. We have no birdfeeders on the property (for fear of luring birds into the clutches of our four cats), so they must be seeking natural seeds or other organic material for food.
Saturday in the back
Trillium
The slow rollout of Spring continues apace. One of the first wild flowers of the season are the trilliums.
The other excitement is the increase in the variety of birds; from the back deck there are robins, sapsuckers, chickadees, and, we think shown here, the vireos. Little greenish-yellow jobs.
We have seen large blue jays but cannot get close to them. The pair of mallards found along the beaver bog creek were spotted in a corner of our front yard near the old railway. This is somewhat odd given the cats and traffic around them.