Attracting these little backyard visitors is as easy as one, two, FEED! Seriously, when it comes to the Downy Woodpecker, if you supply them with the right feed, they will be return visitors all year round. Try Black Oil Sunflower Seed, Sunflower Chips, or Peanut Splits. But the most popular menu item for the Downy is suet! Suet comes in a variety of flavors, and the best part is they are really economical!

In winter Downy Woodpeckers are frequent members of mixed species flocks. Advantages of flocking include having to spend less time watching out for predators and better luck finding food from having other birds around. An often acrobatic forager, this black-and-white woodpecker is at home on tiny branches or balancing on slender plant galls, sycamore seed balls, and suet feeders. Downies and their larger lookalike, the Hairy Woodpecker, are one of the first identification challenges that beginning bird watchers master.

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With an ever-growing to-do list, the Effort-Less Birdfeeder makes one task simple and painless. Built to withstand every type of weather, the Effort-Less is a unique birdfeeding system designed to last. “The Effort-Less Birdfeeder features a free-standing base, allowing it to be placed virtually anywhere – on patios or decks, in gardens or grass. When filled with 30 pounds of dry sand, the base is designed to keep the feeder stable and straight in all kinds of weather.” Good news for our Ohio winters!

Did you catch the phrase “free-standing base”? That means you can plant this baby right on your deck! That opens up a whole realm of possibilities. Does Grandma have a lovely patio right outside her breakfast window? I bet she’d love this bird feeder.

The Effort-Less Birdfeeder makes a wonderful gift for any bird enthusiast, from the beginner to the pro!

Win FREE Bird Feed for a Year!

Sign up in at The Rock Pile now through Dec 19th!

Stop into the store and put your name in a drawing for a chance to win a year’s supply of any bag feed in our store!

Ever been curious about a feed but never bought it? Well now there’s no reason not to try it. What do you have to lose? It’s FREE! Try a different feed each month or stick with your favorites. It’s up to you. The winner of the drawing will receive one free bag of bird food each month for an entire year! The drawing will take place December 19th! One entry per visit. First free bag will be rewarded January 2012. Stop in and enter now!

Each month the winner can choose between any of the following bags of Rock Pile Bird Feed: 45 pounds of Banquet or Buffet, 40 pounds of Songbird Feast, 50 pounds of Black Oil Sunflower, Deer Mix, Shelled Corn, Cracked Corn or Ear Corn, and 25 pounds of Peanuts in Shell, Peanut Splits, Critter Snack, Striped Sunflower, Sunflower Chips, No Mess Mix, Woodpecker Mix, Safflower, Cardinal Chickadee, Finch Feast or Nyjer Thistle!

Winner:

Congratulations to Kathy Gilbert, the winner of our FREE Bird Feed Drawing! Kathy will enjoy free bird feed for one year! She gets one free bag of Bird Feed every month for a year and can choose from: 50 pounds of Black Oil, Deer Mix, Shelled Cord, Cracked Corn or Ear Corn, OR 45 pounds of Banquet, Buffet or Cardinal Chickadee Mix, OR 40 pounds of Songbird Feast, OR 25 pounds of Peanuts in the Shell, Peanut Splits, Critter Snack, Striped Sunflower, Sunflower Chips, No Mess Mix, Woodpecker Mix, Safflower, Finch Feast or Nyjer Thistle! She can pick her favorite feed or try a new one each month! Don’t worry, if you were not one of winners, we’ll have another drawing soon. So continue to stop by The Rock Pile to check out our drawings, specials and sales!

If you are out on a nature hike or enjoying some quiet inlet of Lake Erie you may catch a glimpse of the Great Blue Heron. One of the most common herons, it often barks like a dog when startled. Seen stalking small fish in shallow water, it will also strike at mice, squirrels and just about anything else it might come across.

Found along calm freshwater and seacoasts. Usually nests in trees near water, but colonies can be found away from water. The nest is usually a large platform of sticks, lined with pine needles, moss, reeds, dry grass, or twigs, placed high in trees, occasionally on ground.

You can see this bird flying holding his neck in an “S” shape with its long legs trailing straight out behind him. This month, see if you can catch the Great Blue Heron in action!

Click on the play button below to hear the Great Blue Heron.

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There are many kind of warblers, but one of the most common warblers in Ohio during spring migration is the Magnolia Warbler.  Look for them low in trees where they feed on insects. Males often feed higher up in trees than the females.  These beautiful birds were named by chance when ornithologist Alexander Wilson spotted the bird in a magnolia tree.

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Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. When they fly you’ll see a flash of yellow in the wings and a bright white flash on the rump. Northern Flickers usually excavate nest holes in dead or diseased tree trunks or large branches. Unlike many woodpeckers, flickers often reuse cavities that they or another species excavated in a previous year. Nests are generally placed 6-15 feet off the ground, but on rare occasions can be over 100 feet high. Northern Flickers have been known to nest in old burrows of Belted Kingfishers or Bank Swallows. Northern Flickers eat mainly insects, especially ants and beetles that they gather from the ground. They also eat fruits and seeds, especially in winter. So if you’re lucky, you may see one visit your feeding station.

Click on the play button below to hear the Northern Flicker.

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