I had a bumper crop today! I could hardly believe it! I think it was at least partly because it didnÂt get above freezing all day, and I always have water available for them. I think at least 30 of your blackbirds made it over the Divide, Bonnie! I spent half the day chasing them away from my feeders! They eat all my expensive seedÂand scare away all the birds I WANT to see! In addition to the blackbirds I had: My usual 2 to 3 dozen House Finches About a half a dozen House Sparrows that show up and eat a little suet every now and then My usual 2 Northern Flickers My usual 2 Hairy Woodpeckers 2 Blue Jays that show up every now and then 2 Eurasian Collared Doves And I even saw 1 of my much-watched-for chickadees today! Some day IÂll get a good following of them at this house! AND Â I still can hardly believe this, but I had every Robin in Denver in my backyard! There were at least 14 of them, and I think there were more, but that was as many as I could count at the same time! A couple times there were up to 10 on and around my bird bath at the same time! It was incredible! It seemed like my whole backyard was filled with themÂand it WAS! Usually the most I see at one time is 4Âsometimes 6 Â but NEVER that many at the same time! IÂm convinced now that I WILL have a pair in the nest on top of my electric box again in spring. IÂll be watching again tomorrow, but I donÂt think thereÂs any chance at all that IÂll see as many as I did today. Anybody else? Skybird

dklucius, you are absolutely correct that the price of black oilseed is on the rise, but i doubt that the local riding horse market is generating a major impact because they have been using sunflower seeds of all variety, and especially the black oilseed as a supliment in both Equine and Bovine feeds for a number of years. I think you will find a much greater impact is coming from the oil industry. Although black oil seed has not been extensively farmed in the past, there are now finding that black oilseed it much cheaper than corn to produce and it has a higher yield for making biofuel. As the biofuel industry expands we can expect to see a big demand on sunflower seeds of all varieties. It is a great deal for the farmers because their initial planting and tilling costs are less and they can plant & harvest the oilseed with the same equipment they currently use for corn. If the biofuel industry kicks off as expected we will see the price of sunflower seeds fluctuate very quickly, It could go through the roof or on the other hand, once more farmers get into the production the price could drop tremmendiously. However it turns out, I will be okay because I have unlimited access to 10 acres where I can grow my own oilseed, or convert some of it to open meadow bird preserve. Last year we had to cut down two 65ft high Maple trees in the yard. We sold off the firewood, but I took all the brush and limbs and built a living fence along the creek which provides excellent habitat for birds, rabbits, and a couple ground hogs, now to mention that the open meadow area provides a hunting ground for the hawks and Bald Eagles. As soon as the weather breaks I will be building some hunting blinds in that area where i can sit all day and shoot pictures.

Definitely sounds like a flicker. It's a woodpecker that often feeds on the ground, eating ants. They can be seen in mixed flocks with robins. Both the male and the female have the red spot on the back of your head, at least those we see in the eastern part of the country. From the behavior you described, it's almost certainly a flicker. Other possibilities like various types of thrushes would not be scaling a tree like a woodpecker.

i live in southwest colo outside of Durango Colo. The eleation here is 6830ft. It is snowing in the mountains and we are supposed to get it today or tomorrow. Most of the woodpeckers around here migrate back and forth between the lower canyons and desert to the high mountain forests. It is juniper and oinyon and oak brush here but pines and firs and sporuce just miles away. and Sagebrush and grasslands just miles in the other direction. i had 4 downey stay here last winter for a month or so before they headed south, A pair of Lewis's woodpeckers nest close by last two springs but headed to the mountains for the summer. they stopped by last week on there way south. The flickers and acorn woodpeckers show up early spring and for a short time in fall. the suet blocks work good when they are here but it is usually just for a few days at a time. The one dark almost black flicker has been around for a few weeks but i missed him last couple days.