Staycation

Today is the start of a seven day "Staycation".  Good weather ahead and I've got a cross stitch project ready, lots of time to spend birding, and lots of lots of great books.  I took a running start and have already read Ilona Andrews, "Sweep of the Blade" the most recent installment of the Innkeeper series - it was wonderful.  Also read Barbara O'Neal's, "When We Were Mermaids".  Besides the six books above, I also have a couple ready to go on my Nook: "Mary Balogh's newest book, "Someone to Honor", and Lois McMaster Bujold's newest Penric novella, "The Orphans of Raspay."  If Alexander McCall Smith's newest book, "The Peppermint Tea Chronicles" arrives in the mail via Australia (earlier publication date than US) it will probably jump to the beginning of the line!  I'm set!

On to the birds!

A pretty good woodpecker week.

Here's a male Downy.

And a female Downy.

A female Hairy Woodpecker.

Fun to have a young Red-breast Sapsucker stop by.

I got a couple of good looks before it flew off.

The two Acorn Woodpeckers I see regularly are this young male and a mature (red-eyed) female.

Lastly, a male Flicker.

I've not seen a Pileated Woodpecker for several months now. 

The jays are a visual mess.  They are either young disheveled birds like this Steller's Jay... 

...or they've begun to molt and look bald like this California Scrub Jay.

And now I'm off to read in the shade.