I’ve turned into one of those people.
I never understood bird watching until we lived here in bird central. Our backyard has such a crazy amount of diversity when it comes to birds that it blows my mind.
I mean, there were a lot of birds where I grew up too, but I don’t remember anything like this. …and I even helped count a hawk migration once.
Today our Flycatchers were causing a bit of a raucous, so I peeked outside to see what they were up to. They’re quite the loud and territorial lot right now.
I was rewarded with what can only be described as a gang fight on my deck. If only they had fingers to snap…
I’ve learned my lesson and keep my camera near at hand and managed to get a few photos of the birds they were ganging up against because I had no idea what it was that had angered them so much.
I think we have a new friend in the neighborhood!
It’s not the best photo, as it’s after they scattered and this one was hiding in a tree, but I *think* it may be a Northern Flicker! I have a few other, blurrier, photos that also seem to corroborate that guess based on patterning and colors. This photo showed the most — the chest plumage, the bit of red on the head, the yellow-shafted variation peeking through at the wings. The call sounds right too based on what’s on Audubon…they certainly were making a lot of noise too.
Stitched Roots 