I love seeing Northern Flickers. I often see them coming to neighbors' springs to get water. Craig Tooley recently photographed a male Flicker.

The red "whiskers" tells us this is a male and is the Red-shafted form of Flickers, the ones found here in the west. Their call is distinctive and you can hear it at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds

Northern Flickers use their big beaks to dig in the ground, unearthing ants and beetles, their preferred food.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

Another sunny, unseasonably warm day. Really, it's quite lovely but it's just not right for February. But what else can we do but enjoy the warm breezes and bright blue sky?! News flash! Scott and Tree Mercer saw the first NORTH-bound Gray Whale on Monday, Feb. 7th, just about on schedule. The first to head back to the Arctic are the newly pregnant females. They need to get to their feeding grounds as fast as possible. Gray Whales are arriving to the birthing lagoons off Baja California not. So, yes, the grays are coming and going!