I’ve been known to borrow a thing or two from my folks – usually some household item that ends up permanently relocating to my house…well, today I borrowed a bird.

I had gone over to sit on the porch and enjoy a cup of coffee and “just happened” to bring my camera along. My thought was that after we sat a bit, I would try to get some Hummingbird pictures since Mom and Dad have a lot more lantana and salvia than I do. But, when I went out into their backyard, I heard the telltale clicking call of a Red-headed Woodpecker. Then this handsome fellow swooped down to one of the feeder posts…

…and, after a moment, darted over to grab a peanut.

Then he (or maybe she) flew to the top of the light post, which is his favorite lookout spot.

He repeated this sequence several times before I noticed something. I’d say the photo below is kinda like an “I Spy” game, but “Eye Spy” would be more accurate!

There was a juvenile that had joined him! At first, the parent pecked the peanuts and delivered them in small pieces.

But before long, Junior got impatient and starting trying to grab the whole peanut at once.

The sun was too glary to get good shots, and the light fixture was a bit of a photo-bomber…but hey, when you have the chance to hang out with a Red-headed Woodpecker feeding its little one, you don’t quibble about such things!

I don’t (yet!) have these beauties as residents in my own backyard, so until I do, I just have to keep borrowing them from my folks!