By golly, there really IS such a thing as a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)! And all this time

I thought that the name was just a joke that Red Skelton used way back when. The first time I ever saw

one was in 2012, which was seven years after I moved to Tennessee, and the bird – I assume that it was

the same bird that had a nest in a nearby tree – only visited one feeder, a suet feeder, and then it was

only for three weeks in the Spring, after which I never saw it again (which is why I’m showing all of the

good shots that I got of it here).

I don’t know if it’s just me, but this bird

always appeared scruffy to me...like it

really needed to iron its clothes, and comb

its hair, as it were. Since I’ve only had

the one bird visit, I don’t know if it was

this particular bird, or if all Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers look like that.

© Bob Vuxinic

21 Mar 2012

© Bob Vuxinic

21 Mar 2012

© Bob Vuxinic

9 Mar 2012

3 Mar 2012

© Bob Vuxinic

5 Mar 2012

Here is another of my

photos that was chosen

for the Cornell Lab of

Ornithology's 2011–2012

Project FeederWatch

Photo Gallery online, in

the  “Woodpeckers and

Corvids” section.