Nova Scotia Island Journal: Northern Flicker, seen through a storm window on a rainy day

In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Northern Flicker, seen through a storm window on a rainy day

We have been seeing Northern Flickers around lately, along with one Blue Jay who is their buddy. They are big birds, and pretty spectacular.

Yesterday a couple of them staked out the back yard to grub for grubs, worms, insects --whatever they find there. That's why they have those fabulous curved beaks.

Unlike most woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers the bounty of the ground to that of the tree trunk.

They winter in Nova Scotia, and once last winter I saw one of them along the main road, in the island's forested interior. Some Northern Flickers visited for a few days last spring, then we didn't see them again until the past week or so.