Tuesday, October 26, 2010

FLICKERING?


We had a bumper crop of berries on the dogwood this year. Yeah, the tree had berries until these guys arrived. I found this shot of a Northern Flicker, a kind of woodpecker on the net. They generally feed on insects and other small ground critters but they like fruit this time of year so bye bye dogwood berries. It's a trip to watch an eleven or twelve inch bird deal with some of the smaller branches that are more suitable for chickadees or nuthatches. But, that fruit is mighty tempting.
I had to resort to the net because by the time I get my camera and get to the window the fruit gobblers have moved. LOL This shot is supposed have been taken from a bird watching blind in the Deschutes National Forest in Eastern Oregon
They are a beautiful creature. Most of the time what you see is the white patch above their tails as they fly away.
It was a riot this afternoon. One bird was at the end of the branch and couldn't really hang on above the branch. So....it was very happily hanging upside down scarfing every berry it could reach. Again, gone by the time I got into position.

7 comments:

Lisa :-] said...

That upside-down bird would have been a great shot. Gotta leave your camera open and ready on the windowsill, I guess...

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I really enjoy the Flickers here in Virginia, and are seeing the return of them at the feeders--YAY! They are lovely!

JACKIE said...

It would have made a great blur. Bird was flapping, branch was going up and down, squirrel was laughing.

marigolds2 said...

I love our flickers. They are calling from every treetop in the neighborhood. They are such elegant birds!!!

And Jackie, I love your Denise Levertov quote on this blog. I hope you don't mind my stealing it to use on FB one day soon.

Ken said...

Nice shot!

JACKIE said...

By all means, pass the quote along.

Colleen said...

Wow!great shot. Cute bird.


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