With spring migration winding down I decided to focus on nesting birds today. Just walking around in a couple of parks I found 3 location with either a bird on a nest or a nest cavity with active birds. One of the nesting places was a pair of Northern Flickers. It did not appear any little ones where in this nest hole yet but probably that will be in a few days. It was a gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine, pleasant temps and low winds. Images were taken on June 1, 2025.
At a distance…
While birding Lake Park in Milwaukee one of the highlights was watching the Northern Flickers, yellow-shafted feeding on a couple of clumps of Staghorn Sumac plantings in a ravine. 3 or 4 different Northern Flickers hit these plants hard for seeds probably with anticipated snow coming and the ground having 4″-5″ of fresh snow down now. I have never seen Northern Flickers on sumac before. Very many American Robins and Black-capped Chickadees hit these plants hard too while I was there, even a brief stop by a pair of Eastern Bluebirds even checked out the seeds but did not stay. I think of the different species of birds that have hit these plants over the years is amazing, and this is just a couple of plants I am sort of watching. It was a cloud day with brief sunlight, cold temps around 30 degrees and winds off the lake, made for a cold day out there. Images were taken on April 17, 2018.
Binomial name: Colaptes auratus
Category: Woodpeckers and Allies
Size: 12.5” long, 20” wingspan
Weight: 4.6 Oz
