Northern Flicker
I have longed to capture one of the most beautiful and amazing sights from several years ago when I was birding in the old Daley Bicentennial Plaza. A Northern (Golden-Shafted) Flicker flew right over my head and I was absolutely stunned by the shining gold of its spread wings. I never again wondered about the origin of the name “Golden-Shafted.”
Golden-Shafted Flicker
Sunday morning at the Chicago Portage, I encountered what may have been a family group of Northern Flickers and spent time observing them. Individually Flickers can be pretty shy, so I was not about to pass up this opportunity. Although I was not able to get one to repeat my earlier experience, I did manage to capture a glimpse or two of the golden shafts, albeit from the back side.
Checking to make sure they left nothing behind?
Earlier this spring, a pair of Flickers spent much time discussing the nesting possibilities of this same dead stump. I never managed to check to see if they used it for that purpose but I imagine they did, their nesting experience was a successful one, and now they are reluctant to leave.
Sometimes that white rump speeding away from me is all I will see of one of these birds. The light is rarely so fortunate to capture all this color.
By the photo below, I now think the Flickers may have been attracted to this stump because they can blend in so well with it.
More will follow eventually from Sunday’s excursion, in a subsequent post.
absolutely breath taking..
Thanks so much, Syl! Greetings, good evening, and sleep tight. 🙂
Very nice captures Lisa! I haven’t seen a N. Flicker for at least three years. 🙂
Thanks, H.J.! I hear them more often than I see them so this was kind of a bonanza moment. I usually see only one, maybe two, if any at all. But I suspect it was a family group like the Red-Headed Woodpeckers from Chautauqua. Hope there’s a Northern Flicker on its way to you 🙂
So lovely. Thank you
Thank you for your lovely comment. 🙂
Great photos again, Lisa. I love those Flickers. I think we get more of the Red-shaffed ones here, and they should start showing up around Mid-October.
Thanks, Bob! I am not sure I’ve ever seen the Red-Shafted Flicker yet. The way things are going with birds turning up in unusual places, I better start studying it. 🙂
What a gorgeous set of pictures.
Thank you. These turned out to be the only time when the bright light was useful. As I go through the rest of the pictures from that day it’s becoming increasingly obvious the light was working against me.
It almost always is!