Yesterday, after refilling the bird feeders, Bob called me to the window to advise of
"a very big bird" on the suet holder. Of course it was the beautiful Northern flicker.
This is the male, but within seconds another one arrived, perhaps the female.
Excited, I raced for the camera but when I returned, camera in hand, it had flown
away and sadly I didn't get a shot of the pair. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . I did however capture this shot later, our largest garden visitor
sharing breakfast with the smallest, always very welcome, Carolina chickadee.
For me, this was a special Winter morning moment.
.png)
Oh how I wish i could have a bird feeder here but the apartment rules say no feeders. The birds make a mess, scattering seeds and then those seeds come up all over the place. But, I surely do miss seeing them.
ReplyDeleteThose beautiful Flickers are very friendly ones. I have never had one eat at my feeder as they only eat on the ground. Fun to see.
ReplyDeleteI do love it when we have flickers visit our garden. They are just beautiful! What a treat to see one visit you there on the other side of the country. I wonder if he/she was carrying messages from my garden to yours? ;)
ReplyDeleteAmazing!
ReplyDeleteThat is an amazing bird. None here, of course!
ReplyDeleteWhat a handsome bird...in the same shot as the chickadee puts his size into perspective. Things happen so fast that it is nearly impossible to snag them...you did well!
ReplyDeleteLooks as if he is wearing a little red heart...perfect for February...in the second pic.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very sweet shot with the two birds on either side of the feeder, enjoying breakfast together. The flicker is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy your shots of native birds. I'm wondering if we have either of these in the Midwest. You identify them so well! I thought the Flicker was a woodpecker!
ReplyDeleteHope you are having good weather. Getting cold again here tomorrow.
Jane
Jane, you are quite right, it is a member of the woodpecker family - the largest I believe - and so beautiful. Usually is a ground feeder but in winter really enjoys the suet we put out. It builds its nest sometimes as high as 80 feet up in a tree trunk, and we have plenty of them in our little garden!
DeleteWeather changes here too, had a lovely warm few days here but going cool down again.
A special week for you dear! XX
Such beautiful creatures, both of them! How lucky you were to observe them AND have the camera ready for these great pictures! I bet I would have managed to completely blur them :-)
ReplyDeleteOh what a treat to have such a variety of birds in your garden Its always the same, the camera is never in the right place when you have something to capture. never the less great shot of the two birds.
ReplyDeleteOh I agree, absolutely at lovely morning moment !
ReplyDeleteYou did get two great shots of the Northern Flicker! They are very shy and seem to notice movement behind a window. At least the ones visiting my garden do. They always disappear when I turn up with my camera. Gorgeous birds - I love them.
ReplyDeleteFabulous photos - amazing color.
ReplyDeleteAll the birds you get never ceases to delight me, along with the marvelous up close zoomed in photos. here, I don't think I've seen any yet since we moved into this place in November. Now, I do know that some neighbours have chickens--we hear them clucking on our morning constitution. hahaha.
ReplyDelete