Red-bellied Woodpecker

I find it funny that a Red-bellied Woodpecker has a pale belly and a red head! This is a male who sports a red crown and nape. A female visits our feeder as well. They have the red nape, but no red crown. You can see the difference here. 

These birds seem to really enjoy the fruit & nut birdseed, as you can see!  I love that they visit us, pretty much daily. They have strong distinct markings and watching them hang upside down to grab some seed makes me smile.

Steve & I spent time with Mom again today and Kathy & Dan took the opportunity to take a long bike ride. Mom was a bit down and expressed that to me. It's certainly understandable and I'm glad she would share that with me. She keeps asking how did she get Alzheimer's, was it anything she did, and how she never expected something like this to happen to her. I try to listen and be empathetic, remind her it's nothing she did, it can run in families, but it's really kind of a mystery disease doctors are still learning about. She is doing well with all that's going on.