Garden Parade

In spite of our low temperatures, all of nature has been duped into thinking it is spring, and there has been quite a parade running through our garden.

We finally decided, again, to put out the bird-feeder. It remains to be seen how long it will remain unmauled by the raccoons. I'm telling you - it is amazing how smart these critters are. The very first night, we forgot, at first, to bring it in till morning, and when DOTH went out at 10:00pm to fetch it, there was Rocky, rocking away at the feeder trying to knock it from its perch. They even come out in the daylight now and the big ones can be quite intimidating - but this one took off at the sight of DOTH.

(This is a photo from last year)

First to be sighted this year, were the Northern Flicker (that's Flicker, not Flickr, for you Inchie fans!)

They come every year in spring, just for a couple of sightings, so I am grateful to have caught them:

A beautiful bird, it can be up to 16" long, and belongs to the woodpecker family.
This is the female

This is the male - you see he has a 'moustache' on his cheek - the female doesn't.
Sorry for the photo quality - the birds were across the street on my neighbour's verge, and I was shooting through the living room window.

They always come as a couple (so sweet), and one digs for insects while the other one keeps watch.
Considering their size I think they could only be afraid of a hawk. When I went out on the patio first thing this morning there was a deathly silence - not a bird song in the air, which is very unusual and only happens when there is a hawk around, so perhaps the Flickers were very wise to keep a lookout!

The squirrels are a circus act if there ever was one!

OK - I am about to tear my hair out!  From this point on, blogger changes the orientation of every photo I try to post, regardless of its original orientation. I have even changed the orientation of the original, to compensate, and instead of posting either with that orientation or the original, it turns it in the absolute opposite direction!  I think blogger is getting back at me because I have opted for the old interface. I tried the new one and couldn't find anything!

So folks, that's it for now until I figure all this out!

To be continued, I hope!