Here we have my first shot of 2022 – a female Northern Flicker searching for food in the snow. A mating pair are often seen in our garden, but I suspect their nest last spring was high in a fir tree in our neighbours yard. These birds are quite noisy with a loud high pitch call that tells me instantly when they are around and have often awoken me in the spring ‘drilling’ on the side of the house. Here in the west of Canada adult males have distinct scarlet red cheek flashes (see Northern Flicker) and both adults have striking red feathers on their underwings which catch the eye like the swing of the underside of a silk cloak as they fly in. In the east of the country the underside of the wings is yellow and the cheek flashes are black with a red nape.
