Sometimes you feel like a nut...

On Monday I had an appointment to take my car in for one of those mileage milestone tune-ups. The dealership I purchased it from was in Bennington, so when I went to pick it up I decided I might as well get the most out of the trip by visiting Whitman's Feed Store. I figured that with winter around the corner I'd most likely start going through birdseed at a faster rate, and thus it might be a smart idea to buy one larger bag that'll last me for a while rather than having to constantly stop by the local hardware store for the small ones. After some browsing I opted for a bag of Blue Seal Neat Feast, in keeping with my plan to never have to figure out how to pick up sunflower and other shells off the ground under the feeder.

This morning I noticed that the level of seed in my feeder was below the top set of perches, so it seemed like as good a time as any to switch over to the new stuff. And because I am just that lazy, instead of taking the stuff outside to refill the feeder I opened up the window, grabbed the feeder, and brought it inside so I could combine the remaining seed with the new mixture. By the way, trying to empty a container with six holes in its side by upending it? Not the best idea I've ever had.

That accomplished, I put the feeder back outside and settled in with my camera. For a while there I thought I was going to be leaving my apartment empty-handed, as I didn't see or hear any birds nearby for several minutes, but happily a White-breasted Nuthatch decided it was ready for some breakfast:



Reaching in for a bite:



A seed on its way down the hatch:



Then the nuthatch realized it had hit the mother lode, forgoing the smaller goodies to pull out a whole peanut, scattering seeds everywhere and flapping its wings in excitement. Or maybe for balance—it's a tough call:



As the LOLcats like to say, nom nom nom nom nom...:



I just really liked how this one came out:



After flying off to either eat or store its find, the nuthatch came back for more. Or perhaps it was a different nuthatch stopping by for the first time that morning—they're still ignoring my continued pleas to start wearing name tags...



Hoisting itself upright:



"Dear Lord, thank you for the food I am about to receive...":



Mmm... peanut:





Personally, I can't wait to watch a bird work on pulling one of the pecans out...