Red Bellied visitor

We have heard a mysterious loud knocking in the backyard but hadn't been able to catch sight of this visitor until last night. A woodpecker is banging away at the back porch overhang.  He isn't making much progress but we are doing what we can to discourage his overtures.  Today I hung (everso sightly) wire cages over the shingles and in front of the places where he is hammering.  So far so good.
The robin that was pestering the carriage house windows gave up when she built her nest, but returned to her task when the babies fledged.  It looked like she was going to fill the nest again, but hasn't yet.
Hummingbirds are busy fighting and protecting their feeder.  The most we see at one time is 3, but summer isn't over.
A different lady turtle greeted us at the carriage house door tonight.  No dog interventions and not the same one that was on the patio in the rain 2 days ago.
No cow sightings or evidence.

Robins and Bluebirds

Early in February we had Bluebirds visiting the berry bushes (Viburnum and Holly) in front of the house.  At first we thought they were Robins, but their red color was very subdued.  Later in the month we could see their blue color as well as the red, so not Robins.
Then on Feb 28 we had a flock of Robins visit our Mt Ash and berry bushes. There were about 20 birds in all, male and female, and they really attacked the Mt Ash.  We had about 8 trees with varying amounts of berries on them and we were wondering who was going to eat the berries as the excess fruit was causing the tree branches to hang down when hit with snow or ice.  The flock was still around on Saturday and there were Robins all over the trees and bushes.  On Sunday the weather was threatening to snow but we missed the worst of it and only got a couple of dustings.  I didn't see any Robins on Sunday, I thought it was because of the rotten weather. 
Again on Monday the Robins were gone with the exception of one or two birds still hanging around.  Then I took a closer look at the Mt Ash and the bushes and the trees are completely bare of fruit and most of the bushes are also picked clean.  I guess the flock has moved on to better feeding grounds.

Robin

Swiping the red, semi-dehydrated holly berries in light snow. The first robin of the year and the first bird we've seen on the berries.
Just enough snow to freshen the yellow spots, less than 3".

Gambol has discovered my chair but only when he thinks he's sneaking.  If the other dogs come in or if people move around, he hops down fast.  Usually he lounges in the bedroom.  He reminds me of Pierce's foray to the bottom of my bed. Is his age catching up?

Easter Saturday

What is this?

What a difference 24 hours makes! 5-6" last night hardly make it look like Easter weekend. A fox sparrow and a white throated sparrow joined us for breakfast and the usual murder of crows did also. We even had a flock of 30 or so robins hang out for a few minutes in our tree tops. Finding worms today was a hard task at 25 degrees early.