I was cleaning up garlic mustard on the creek when I heard pecking sound from the other side of the property. I found a flicker digging a nest in a dead tree. The female seems to work the AM shift and the male works in the afternoon.

The flickers are very wary on their nest. They will sit for 15 minutes looking around before they go back to their digging. I can usually get a few flash photos before they fly off. They come back after a half hour and go through their wary routine.

April has been an off month. Between having a lot of rain and my treadmill dieing I was afraid there would be no good pictures. I made up for the 10 days without my exercise excuse by getting a bigger lens. It is making a difference.

Where I was concerned with recognizing what the bird was now I'm working on getting all the feathers in focus.

The grossbeaks are very wary and I have only been able to photgraph them through the window. If I move too quickly near a window they will fly off.