February 4:
Small groups of red-shafted flickers appear in our foothill yards these days. They are said to be foraging for ants on the ground. They scatter when we come close. The flickers have a loud location call when they scoot up to the trees: keck-keck-keck-keck in a rolling sound. They flash their spectacular red underwings and bob their heads, with their upright posture reminding us that they are woodpeckers, in spite of their ground foraging behavior. We fight a continuing battle with the ants when the weather warms: we wish those flickers good luck with their ant search.

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