Northern Flicker | A Second Look

Late in the day the Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker returned to examine the hole in the trunk it looked at the day before. We’re hopeful it will choose the hole as a nesting site. Our view would be good. For a few minutes the Flicker was inside the hole. I went for the camera. When I returned the Flicker was sitting quietly on a branch about 4 ft from the hole as if waiting for something.

A squirrel had climbed the trunk and scared it. The squirrel sat on a branch preening and in no hurry to move on. This stand-off lasted for 10-15 minutes. Neither one budged.

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Northern Flicker | Yellow-Shafted

We looked outside during dinner and watched a bird investigate a hole in a small tree about 20 feet from the house. Binoculars helped us identify it as a Northern Flicker of the Yellow-Shafted form. It spent about an hour inside the hole occasionally taking time to look outside. It might have considered it as a home. That would be nice.