Winnie, the Red-bellied Woodpecker

I mentioned Winnie our resident Red-bellied Woodpecker in a previous post and even presented a photo or two of her way back in the winter (a couple of weeks ago). At first she would come in take a seed and retire to a skinny dead snag on the other side of the yard where she would hull the sunflower seed and eat the interior. But she became more comfortable with the nearness of the house and also became brassy as hell. Now when she swoops in, it's to chase everyone away and hold them at bay. Then she'll settle down and eat seed after seed.

The way she swoops in is reminiscent of Errol Flynn in Captain Blood swinging from one ship to another to appear on the deck rail from below, survey the deck proper and then lay waste to those present. (Or when Flynn, as Robin Hood (The Adventures of Robin Hood), appears on that massive oak limb in Sherwood Forest and says to the Archbishop, "Welcome to Sherwood, my Lord.") But her attitude once on the tray is all Jack Nicholson in The Shinning ("Here's Johnny!")

"I'm baaaaack! Now scram!"

"Okay, now...Nothing to the left of me."

"Nothing to the right of me..."

"Time to eat!"