Please Keep Off The Grass

Something Is Flickering!

May 12, 2023 — 2 Comments

F/6.3, 1/160, ISO 640.

Northern Flicker

What did the math book say to its therapist?

I’ve got a lot of problems.

Interesting Fact: Northern Flickers usually excavate nest holes in dead or diseased tree trunks or large branches. In northern North America look for nests in trembling aspens, which are susceptible to a heartrot that makes for easy excavation. Unlike many woodpeckers, flickers often reuse cavities that they or another species excavated in a previous year. Nests are generally placed 6-15 feet off the ground, but on rare occasions can be over 100 feet high. Northern Flickers have been known to nest in old burrows of Belted Kingfishers or Bank Swallows. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/lifehistory )

Please Keep Off The Grass!

November 3, 2021 — 3 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.

Northern Flicker

What can you hold without ever touching it?

A conversation.

Interesting Fact: The red-shafted and yellow-shafted forms of the Northern Flicker formerly were considered different species. The two forms hybridize extensively in a wide zone from Alaska to the panhandle of Texas. A hybrid often has some traits from each of the two forms and some traits that are intermediate between them. The Red-shafted Flicker also hybridizes with the Gilded Flicker, but less frequently. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker )