MelissaM
Monday 19th October 2009, 14:26
Northern Flickers arent rare for most people but I've been trying to see one for 3 years now and they have escaped me until yesterday. It was quite windy and cool here and I wasnt feeling well but I asked my fiance if we could take a quick drive from southern middle Tennessee down to Joe Wheeler State Park in northern Alabama and look for some water birds and he agreed. I was gonna bird from the jeep as I do quite frequently as I have rheumatoid arthritis. So the trip didnt start off very well as all I was seeing was Great Blue Herons which are very common here. I was hoping to see some migrating duck varities. So we kept driving and near picnic shelter number 3 near the beach area I yelled STOP! NORTHERN FLICKER. I gathered myself together and to my surprise the pine forest was full of them!!!!! I bet there were 20 or more of them flitting from tree to tree. Got some great pics of them along with either a downy or hairy woodpecker. Havent studied it enough to decide which one yet. We've had both in our yard so I know they are hard to tell apart. Also saw carolina chickadees, eastern bluebirds and a lil yellow bird similiar to a goldfinch but they wouldnt still be yellow would they? Havent made a positive identification on it yet. Anyway we stayed there for like 30 minutes before the whole group moved on around the lake area. It was amazing!!!!! Certainly made my day, week, month...