on a lighter note … flicker babies!

I didn’t have to go far for this experience – the other day I heard a sound like a squirrel chirping in a redwood tree in my front yard. Finally after a day of hearing it I went to see what was up (was there a squirrel stuck in the mail box?) – it is a Northern flicker nest in a cavity in the crook of a redwood tree about 15 feet off the ground. The little one seems about ready to fledge, and didn’t mind being the subject of some photos.

As it turns out, there were two in there, and one of them fledged last night. I know because I heard the lucky one vocalizing in the yard around dusk and I managed to get outside in time to chase off one of the many cats in the neighborhood. The fledgling made its way behind my house in some thick plants between the wall and a fence. This morning I heard it moving around at dawn, and eventually it hopped back over towards the nest and part-way up a redwood tree. I was standing on the deck as it hopped up on the boards and scurried about two feet away from my feet – it was amazing. Status of both right now is unknown, but at least fledgling #1 has a chance after surviving the night on the ground.

These birds, a type of woodpecker found throughout the U.S.,  have amazing feather patterns and glowing fluorescent orange in some of their flight feathers.

Good luck little ones.