Soup Update - Northern Flicker Pair

 Here's an update on the Pesto Bean Soup I shared in my 

previous post.

I did make it again yesterday. Used the basic recipe but

 added a 1/4 cup of ORZO pasta. . . . . boiled it separately, 

about 8 minutes, drained and added it to the finished soup.  

This was a good choice and actually made the soup more of

 a thicker dish. Served with warm whole wheat pita bread it was 

our main meal.

Really great Orzo from Abruzzo, Italy.

This morning I took everything out of the fridge/freezer and gave the interior

 a heavy duty clean. How does so much debris collect in the corners, 

and so many mystery freezer bags and containers hide in the back with

use by dates now history? Over stocking and panic buying at the beginning 

of the pandemic is much to blame of course!

Speaking of eating and storing food, Mrs. Northern Flicker has really

 become such a welcome bird - along with her Mr. - at the suet feeders.

 I'm hoping so much they have a family this spring. 

They're the only woodpecker who eats on the ground at times as they love

 ants and beetles. Here, when filling the suet feeder, a piece fell and she was

 there in no time having a special easy to grab snack!

Lately she seems to come more often to feed - perhaps he's busy searching

 out a nesting site. Later both male and female excavate the nesting cavity

 for her to lay 5-8 eggs, their one annual brood. Both will incubate and feed

 their young.

 

Whoever said don't wear spots and stripes together was totally wrong!

This is one gorgeous marked large bird. . . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . and I love that they are so easy to identify - he with that handsome mustache!

Ok this is where I love you and leave you.

I'm off to my stylist for a haircut. I'm sure this will be the 

very end of my pre-pandemic red hair, last colored 13 months ago!  

Just a few final snips and my 'silver' will be 100% and shining!

Come rain, come snow, come sunny mornings -

 

Our pair of beautiful Northern flickers are constant visitors. Several years ago I noticed them on the ground in the back garden. They had a youngster and the father was apparently training it on how to find and eat insects, ants and beetles being their favorite food, while the mother watched from the fence. They are the only woodpecker to regularly feed on the ground.

I fell in love with these spotted and striped woodpeckers that morning!  

Northern flicker - female - 12" brown and black woodpecker,

black necklace above speckled breast, red spot on neck

Male flicker, same except for a black mustache making

 it quite easy to distinguish.

Since our one dismal snow fall of this winter - just when a nice 6" would have been great as there was plenty of free time to play, build snow people, make snow angels, throw snowballs, and give housebound children, and adults, "something different to do" - the flicker pair have been devouring suet cakes which I stay busy replenishing. These could be their next favorite meal when insects aren't plentiful.  

Even as I write on this lovely morning, bright with welcome sunshine and the promise of a fine day with a high of 63F,  the pair of flickers are enjoying breakfast. The female seems really hungry, perhaps preparing to become a 'mom' this spring.

The male usually selects the nest site, taking up to 12 days to excavate. They have one brood per year, laying 5-8 white unmarked eggs, and both parents incubate for 14 days. Babies fledge in 25-28 days and both parents feed the young.

I hope we see babies this year.

I'm adding this photo to show the size of the woodpecker compared to the Eastern bluebird. They seem to get along fine together at the feeders, the bluebird usually sitting patiently waiting for a chance to nibble. . . . . . .

. . . . . . and this photo, showing the beautiful flash of golden wing and tail feathers displayed as this male flicker flies away with a bill stuffed with suet, under the watchful eye of the bluebird.  Here in the southeast, populations of these woodpeckers swell in winter when northern migrants arrive, and our own, being non-migrators, grace us with their presence year round. 

We really are so lucky. Nature is so generous.

All photos taken from my dining room window.

Saturday morning - no snow, just sun!

 

They fooled us!  

Those weather guys sometimes don't know what they're talking about!

Yesterday we nibbled and gobbled all day long to stay warm, expecting to

 awake this morning frozen to snow covered branches, only to flap our

 chilled wings and head to another suet breakfast in truly brilliant sunshine!  

Many friends showed up with the same idea, but when the Northern flicker

arrived we had to wait our turn, after all he's much bigger than us!

Northern Flicker : Colaptes auratus

A 12" brown and black woodpecker with black necklace and red spot

on nape of neck. Male distinguished by a black mustache also.

Female (left) and male (right) - a sweet pair of Eastern bluebirds

 waiting patiently for their breakfast.

Male Northern flicker.

So, no snow blowing or shoveling, snow person building, snow angels, 

or 'birds in the snow' photos. Thank goodness for the latter you may say,

 how many bird photos can she take?  Instead we'll be enjoying the sunny,

 cold day as we go to get new tires for my car, take a walk while they mount

 them - heavy bundled in layers of wool, cashmere with fur-lined boots and

of course our masks - and then back home, light the fire, and settle in

 for the evening.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Woodpeckers and suet feeders . . . . . . . . .

Since the cold weather hit the large woodpeckers are here every day, 

all day, coming and going at the suet feeders.

Above and below - female Northern flicker - such a beautiful large bird (up to 12") 

who loves our suet feeders.

Male Flicker - note he has the black 'moustache'

Both male and female have the brilliant red spot on the nape of the neck.

This colorful garden bird is the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a somewhat smaller

 8-9" medium-sized woodpecker. This is the male with the red chin - female has

a white chin.
An interesting bird, it drills holes in a pattern of horizontal rows in small to
 medium sized trees to bleed tree sap. Many birds drink from sapsucker taps,
 and oozing sap attracts insects which sapsuckers eat. 
The Sapsucker itself actually doesn't suck sap, rather it laps it with a long tongue.

Any woodpeckers in your garden lately?
Best wishes for the weekend - how on earth did the week go by so quickly!

They love suet feeders. . . . . . . .

I was surprised by this Northern Flicker - perhaps the younger of these two 

guys I viewed a couple of weeks ago HERE.

He waited on the suet feeder in this position for a very long time on Saturday,

 10 minutes or more, only leaving when I eventually opened the back door in hopes

 I could get better photos than these taken through the steamy windows.

Boy was it ever hot out there and the humidity awful!  Maybe he was just resting

in the heat, can't say I blamed him, it was like being in the jungle without the 

screeching monkeys.

Notice how some dastardly night visitor - raccoon perhaps - has already chewed

 up my NEW suet feeder, grrrrrrr!  The woodpeckers love these feeders as they can

balance their weight and size on the tail 'fin'. Other birds come too. . . . . . . many

 love suet and require fat in their diet for energy even in summertime. If you feed

garden birds you should do it year round.

Such a handsome bird. 

I hope your parents showed up and they took you away to a

 cooler spot for the evening hours.

Such a handsome bird. . . . . . . . . .

Yesterday I was out early morning hanging a new suet feeder to replace the one

 gnawed by the dastardly squirrels.  

Back in the house I turned around to look out the window and noticed this handsome

 male Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus - already feeding!

Easy to recognize the sex of this woodpecker - the male has a black mustache.

Grabbed the camera. . . . . . . . .of course. . . . . . . . .and by then it had flown from

 the feeder and was scuffling about in the leaves at the back of the garden.

When I looked through the viewfinder I realized there was a second Flicker on 

the ground, thought it was its mate, however then realized it was a much smaller

 bird and definitely another male with a mustache.  Papa, with suet in his beak,

 was feeding his son!

The young bird didn't seem too sturdy on its legs, not unexpected if it hasn't

 been out of the nest for long. Both parents do incubate and feed their young

 who fledge from the nest (usually in a cavity in a tree) when about one month old.

Guess this dad was living up to his parental responsibilities. 

They were there for several minutes and then flew off together.

5-8 eggs are usually laid - perhaps mom was busy with the rest of her brood.

In flight the Flicker flashes golden yellow under wings and tail, undulating deeply

 while giving a loud "wacka-wacka" call. It is a non-migrator in the Carolinas so we

 are able to enjoy this very attractive large bird all year round.

. . . . . . .and you enjoying the sunshine in that pretty fur coat - don't get any

 ideas - you had best stay down there on the ground away from my new

 suet feeder - I see you eyeing it already!

Birds at breakfast. . . . . . . . . .

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.

Learning to share in bird land . . . . . . .

The beautiful Northern Flickers are still around and I was thrilled to get this shot of 

one with an Eastern Bluebird perched close by.

Later there was a bit of a skirmish at the suet feeder on the fig tree when the 
European Starling returned after a long absence, pushing and shoving the Flicker off. . . . . 

. . . . . but he waited whilst the Starling nibbled for a couple of minutes.

Waiting patiently for his turn - displaying his lovely golden yellow tail and 
under wing feathers, and the speckled pattern on his breast.

Above - Mrs. Northern Flicker

Here the pair are hanging out together, male on the suet, female 
close by - the only time I've actually seen them both together around the feeders.
I didn't even know she was there until I loaded the pic on the laptop!

If you're wondering about the rust colored leaves in March - we have a small oak 
tree which hasn't shed its leaves yet, and a still-with-leaves maple behind the fig. Once 
the new buds are formed they will both drop their leaves and we'll be raking again, but 
hopefully under a spring green canopy.