I've been watching a Red-breasted Nuthatch at my feeder this morning. 
It's a very
busy little bird, flying from the feeder to a nearby tree, mostly 
with safflower seeds.
But the bird sometimes flies down to the ground, and when I got the binoculars
on it, I could see the bird stashing seeds under leaves, under twigs, 
between stones,
next to tree roots. This behavior has been going on for a half hour or more.

I can understand a bird wanting to maintain a cache of seeds, but 
under a leaf doesn't seem
like a very practical spot. The next good wind can reveal much of the 
stash. I'm also
surprised to see a nuthatch spending so much time on the ground. 
Obvioiusly, I don't
know much at all about nuthatches. Is this a common behavior?

--Pat

Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
--Douglas Adams