Northern Flicker!

After a day of rain and wind and failed attempts to find a great location to photograph, I found this guy. :) Last spring I saw one in our yard and missed getting an image of it... and that was the first and last time I saw one, until today.

The day was windy, overcast and there was on and off rain to deal with. Later in the afternoon I decided to get in the car and find a road less traveled to see about a different location to photograph. I did find a couple of areas, but the first secluded spot had a seedy looking character idling in his truck... hmm, I'll skip it. The second was pretty but, with all of the rain we've had, it was thick with mud puddles and I didn't have my boots. So I moved on to a park. On a day like today, I had the park to myself... just me and the birds. Well, these park birds are weary of people and all I managed to do was herd them from tree to tree. In doing so, I kept spotting a larger bird with a white rump and I was curious enough to keep at it until they finally got tired of fleeing from me. Not the best spot for an image, with the bright overcast sky as a background, but I was happy to have one stop long enough for me to get these shots. And as I focused in on him I realized what bird I had been following (through the whole park) a Northern Flicker! Woo Hoo! So, even though these aren't the best images, I'm pretty pleased to have had a shot at a bird that eluded me a while back. :)