Winter Flicker
©2007-2023 Susan Thiele
Location: New Mexico, Albuquerque Garden
On a cold winter day, I was gazing out my window at the garden wall, when I recorded the moment in my nature journal: “I used to see flickers a lot in winter foraging on the ground, but after the silver maple was removed, they came less frequently. Imagine my joy when I saw the large bird, head bobbing, foraging outside my studio. He quickly flew, showing the white rump patch and rusty wings. Later I found him perched vertically on the wall, holding on to vines, eating the blue berries of the Virginia Creeper.”