A New Tenant?

Cynthia called me to the bedroom window this afternoon to see a squirrel eating an apple it had picked off our tree -- again. When I got there something even more exciting was happening outside -- a flicker was checking out the nesting box I put out there in February 2012.

The bird was busily removing some of the pine shavings I had filled it with. Apparently I'd overfilled it. I think it's an immature adult, because the markings look rather subdued, although that may be because I was shooting through a double-glazed window and the light was very dull.

This was a huge surprise -- I'd given up hope of the nesting box ever being used, and I thought it would only be of interest in the spring. This is what I found on the Audubon Society Website:

Shelter: During the breeding season, Northern Flickers shelter in the same cavities they use for nesting. Outside of the breeding season, they roost on the vertical surface of tree trunks or branches, and occasionally in sheltered niches of buildings.

I hope he/she comes back to stay.