Very cold weather, choosing not to go out, then this happened.

I apologize for not posting anything lately. The primary reason has been very cold weather for several weeks in a row.  At our house we had at least three snow events plus another day when the temperatures were in the single digits. During this span of below freezing weather I chose not to go out.  If we were in a national park or at a vacation spot and weren't likely to get back to again anytime soon, I would probably would have gone out, but that might not have been a very safe move. I've been out four times over the past two weeks and unfortunately things have not worked out very well until today. Now that the weather appears to be more cooperative, birding should return to normal. Spring is already here judging by the trees and the daffodils blooming in our front planter and the birds have started mating already.  It's pretty funny watching the birds chase each other around at high speeds, making mating noises (as in the case of northern flickers). This morning was beautiful with no clouds anywhere and the birds were everywhere making a ton of noise.  As I was making my normal return loop, I found a red-shafted northern flicker on a small branch only about 8 ft off the ground.  Flickers aren't usually this low to the ground and this bird wasn't skittish like they normally are. I thought perhaps it was injured. The woodpecker just sat there I as approached, snapping picture after picture as I moved closer and closer trying to find better light. Finally the light was perfect and pictures came out wonderful! I've been trying to get some great pictures of flickers for over a year and it's been tough. They usually are high up in the canopy and as soon as they see you they are off.




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