There are quite a few wobbly youngsters in the neighborhood right now. Last night while I was watering the garden, the cutest little baby bunny bounced out from under some of my perennials. Even though I know he will terrorize my garden, he was just too cute to hate.
The most unsteady of all the babies right now is a little Downy Woodpecker. He spent yesterday afternoon learning how to fly to my hanging peanut feeder. His mom would go first and grab a peanut, but when it was Baby Downy’s turn, he couldn’t get enough lift as he took off from the apple tree. There’s a short wooden stake pounded into the ground near the feeder (my husband is redoing some of the raised bed timbers and the stake marks a measurement) and Baby Downy landed there quite a few times. When he’d really veer off course, he’d plunge into a nearby shrub.
After about 30 minutes of trial and error, he finally landed on the peanut feeder. He appeared stunned for a moment and then looked at his mother as if to say “Now what?”
Mom flew to the feeder and started yanking out peanuts and flinging them to the ground. Baby Downy watched as the squirrels cheered her on (“I’m not sure he’s caught on yet. You better throw some more down here!”).
After watching his mom for a few minutes, out came the little woodpecker tongue, and soon he was enjoying his own peanuts:
