Fall Grasses and a Woodpecker

You're looking at the prettiest tall grass in our yard.  It's sporting the latest in attractive fall colors.

The fan-shaped top on this tall grass frond is eye-catching too.

Each type of grass sends up a tall, slender fall plume.

The shortest grass does its best to keep up with its neighbors.  These plumes remind me of fuzzy caterpillars.

I love grasses because they look nice through the winter months.  When other plants have died, tall grasses withstand the wind, bitter cold and snow of Wisconsin winters. 

Our variegated grass really outdid itself this summer.  Tall and full, it stands at the southwest corner of our screen porch.  It produces the fan-shaped plumes I showed you in a previous photo.

I took these photos in the middle of the day, not the best time for capturing true colors and detail.  The bright sun washes out the brilliance of shades and hues.  Don't get me wrong, I love the sunshine, especially on these cooler autumn days. 

Can you tell this is one of my favorite grasses?  The plumes are so cool.  It was when I was taking this picture that I came up with the idea of cutting some of the plumes from each different grass and bringing them inside to make fall bouquets. 

Voila...a small bouquet for this spot.

And a bigger one for here.  It's fun to decorate with stuff just outside the door.  Can I take credit for recycling?

I wasn't alone while I was gathering grasses.  I heard this red-head before I saw him.  He was helping himself to peanuts, pecking away like nobody's business.  Dang, when I filled that feeder yesterday, I could barely resist eating a handful myself.  There are even cashews in the mix!

    I'd never seen this type of woodpecker in our yard before.  According to my bird book, he's a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  (To qualify as a Red-Headed Woodpecker, his entire head must be red.  By golly, if I look very closely, I can understand why he's called red-bellied.  Do you see that little bit of pale red on his belly?)

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That's it for today.  I leave you with hopes that you're enjoying fall as much as I am.