Big Bird

At the top of our enormous, sloped backyard we are in the process of planting a bee- and butterfly-friendly xeriscape garden. I've also been especially diligent lately about keeping our multiple bird feeders and birdbaths full. Subsequently, we've had quite an abundance of small wildlife in our yard this year, including even more squirrels than usual (I even saw a black one in our tree last week), rabbits, and especially birds.

Yesterday afternoon, Pat noticed this large specimen sitting on the ground in the butterfly garden. It sat there for so long, I finally got my camera out, put a 300mm lens on it and took a picture. The bird completely ignored me. It was huge! I swear it was as big as a chicken. After we got a close look at the picture, Pat was able to identify our visitor as a Nothern Flicker woodpecker. According to the webpage, they like to sit on the ground and eat ants. That explains why it was hanging out in our yard. As you can see, the butterfly garden isn't finished yet. We're still planting it, and there's no mulch, which will be our last step. Ants have started coming around because the soil has been turned over and it's nice and soft. I guess this woodpecker was just coming by to have a little snack.