Back Under the Apple Tree

I've chronicled my experiences with the Pileated woodpecker in my last post.  However the weather has been so good that I've now made four trip to the apple tree for photos... but only today did I see another Pileated woodpecker.  Unfortunately, after waiting a long time on a cold morning the female of the pair finally showed up in late morning.  She's much more cautious than the male and after a brief foray around the center of the tree she flew away, not to return while I was there.  I did get one photo of her atop a power pole but I'll dispense with displaying that photo.

However after being at the apple tree only a short time on Saturday morning I realized that there were one or more Varied thrushes in the tree.  My patience finally paid off and I was able to get some great photos of the bird eating apples.

 

 

There was also a good turnout of Spotted towhees...

 

 

There were also a substantial number of Golden-crowned sparrows in and under the apple tree... 

And in addition to the deer waiting below for apples to be dislodged, one of the Eastern Gray squirrels took a more direct approach.