There has been non-stop action at the backyard bird feeders this week. I set a new feeding station up on my deck. This year I put a 'squirrel block' in it in addition to some shelled sunflower seed. The feeding station in the middle of the yard is filled with the same seed but holds a suet cake.

The birds have been in a feeding frenzy. There were up to six blue jays in the yard at the same time. They swooped down from the branches to the squirrel block and worked at it just as the woodpeckers do. 

What fun it was to watch them in action. Each had a different personality. I wondered what was going on in their bird brains as they pecked for a bit, cocked their head as if to contemplate their task and then begin again.

The woodpeckers were abundant as well. Male and female downy and hoary woodpeckers took turns with the jays. They were more skittish and flew up into the tree branches each time I walked by the window.

The black capped chickadees flitted between the two feeding stations. There were still seed pods on some of the backyard shrubs so they were also busy gathering those from the branches. The leaves were still in place but I knew the little birds were in there because the shrub would tremble as they searched for food.

The birds were not the only ones that took advantage of newly filled feeders. The deer are back for regular visits. They have been feeding on the sunflower stalks/heads and my strawberry plants. I caught them raiding the sunflower seeds in the tray feeder. The deer make the rounds from yard to yard, pruning shrubs/plants and emptying the bird seed.

I had the best reality tv right outside my back door.