Black and Red

Design - "Cats"

Designer - Barrick Samplers

FAbric - 32 count Birds of a Feather 'Meadowlark'

Fibers - GAST -2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 9 September 2014

Completed - 11 September 2014

I titled this post Black and Red and I will slowly transition to that. I've begun with my "Cats" stitch which is black and orange.

Next up, a male Flicker - brown and orange/red. 

He's followed by the woodpeckers - all of whom are black and red.

As you can see from this collage, it was a great week for woodpeckers.

I am continually amused watching the Acorns at the birdbath.  

They are such woodpeckers and perch on the side using their strong tail feathers as ballast to help prop them up.

What's better than two Acorns at the bird bath, why three Acorns, that's what!

By the way, my most recent Acorn Woodpecker Census came up with a tentative count of six birds!   

Most days I see one or two birds on our driveway getting bits of gravel and grit to aid with digesting peanuts and acorns and the like.  

Peanuts!

I also took a census of Red-breasted Sapsuckers and was thrilled to see three birds. I later counted five, yes five birds on two different trees.

After not seeing any at all the first half of the year, it's great to have them back and busy at work.

I'm not sure why they were working on a snag (dead wood).

Their preference is live trees.

They systematically drill a series of holes in a tree all of which emit sap. The birds eat the sap (as do others like the Anna's Hummingbirds).  Trees attempt to heal wounds, but cannot quickly close up a Sapsucker's hole. Scientist are intrigued.  They wonder if the birds have some chemical which inhibits the sap from drying, much as drug Warfarin inhibits blood from coagulating.  

Then I heard the deep rhythmic "thunk-thunk-thunk" in the forest and found this female Pileated Woodpecker. She talked and another bird answered... 

And here is the second bird.

A male Pileated Woodpecker. 

He is a bit larger than the female and his red crown extends the across the top of his head, while hers ends at the eyes.

I think I could watch woodpeckers for hours on end!

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who reads my blog, and extend a special thanks to those who comment. I try to answer all questions, but if you are set up with Google as "no-reply" then I cannot. Some one (Di) asked about the frames I use. I blogged about that a few days ago here. Bonnie had a question about where we grow dahlias.  We are in the southern end of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.  Great growing conditions for dahlias though the state of Washington thinks it tops us!