We had a large jar of shelled peanuts that had passed their prime. John set them out to feed the squirrels. Many squirrels did come to eat them but we also had the pleasure of watching the birds flutter in and away each time taking one peanut in their beaks. This is a woodpecker on the rail.
Here the woodpecker is climbing the tree behind the deck with a peanut in his beak.
We couldn't believe how fast these birds got the memo that there was free food available. A cup of peanuts was completely gone in about twenty minutes. I didn't realize that a bird could pick up a peanut because bird seed is so much smaller.
It was very pleasant to sit on the couch during our read-aloud and watch so many birds of three different varieties fly in to take one peanut at a time until they were all gone. We refilled the supply three times and then saved the rest for another day of bird watching.
