I’ve been somewhat remiss in posting to my blog site lately. Fall migration has been in full swing since early August and I have been taking advantage of all the photographic opportunities it offers. I try to spend some time in the yard each day which provides me with numerous photos that must be processed. In some cases I try to document my sightings with written accounts. It’s a time-consuming activity. 

At the same time I’m trying to deal with home issues, the largest of which is a kitchen damaged by a leaking icemaker water line. My refrigerator has been in the garage for almost three months now and planning for and preparing meals has become an onerous task!  

But back to the birding!  On August 31, 2025, I had a stellar day of photographing unusual and migrating birds!  I took 552 photos which must be processed. In between bouts of photography I made a list of all the species of birds I had seen in the yard during the day. The list contained 21 species, many of which are rare visitors. And I got some very good photographs, both of the rarer visitors and of the more common birds I see every day. 

This preamble has already used up a lot of electronic ink with no birding images or listings being conveyed, the reason being I’ve only just begun to process the day’s photos. I’m going to post photos of a single (hopefully non-migrant!) species now and post photos of some of the migrants in a second post. 

One of my most interesting arrivals has been that of male and female Hairy woodpeckers. The male made only a single appearance but it was his presence that alerted me to the species. It was my first yard observation of the species in at least five years. My identification of the male led me to wonder if one of my presumed female Downy woodpeckers was actually a Hairy woodpecker. I shared photos of the suspected female Hairy woodpecker with more experienced birding friends and they confirmed my identification!  

I won’t launch into my shortcomings as a birder but it’s nice to have more experienced birding friends who are willing to donate their time and expertise to my occasional needs!  

So it’s finally time to arrive at some photos!  The male Hairy woodpecker was photographed on August 17 and I haven’t seen it since. The female has now become a daily visitor to the peanut and suet feeders and the photos of her were all taken on August 31.  To help with identification I measured the peanut feeder. It is 8.5” from the bottom of the feeder to the top of the top row of holes. 

The following two photos are of the male Hairy woodpecker…

The following two photos are of the female Hairy woodpecker...

The following photo is of a male Downy woodpecker for comparison…

See the identification problem?