Northern Flickers

Landscapes and gardens (not to mention wilder places) are alive with (cool) things to notice, observe, and learn about.  My initial thought about this bird, observed poking around an old stump last June, was that it was female red-bellied woodpecker -- happily Randy (of Randy and Meg's Garden Paradise) pointed out that it was a Northern Flicker.

Since then, we've seen quite a few Northern Flickers in the back ravine, including three yesterday (spotted by my gardening companion, who's started to share my enthusiasm for learning more about birds).

Northern Flicker probing into a stump, June 2010

Northern Flicker foraging in an old stump, June 2010

And in my Field Ornithology class this spring, I was reminded about how Northern Flickers forage on the ground for ants and other insects (unlike other woodpeckers), so the poking about a dead stump would fit that profile (as I noted in the June 2010 post) and apparently had forgotten....

But we're both hip now to the distinctive calls of Northern Flickers now, and their behavior, so count that as another bird learned!