Northern Flicker

The flicker has always been elusive for me when I have my camera in hand.  On days when I am walking the dog near my office (camera safely stored at home), I often see one sitting atop a light pole, pecking at the top, making a lot of noise and drawing my attention, or see one pecking in the grasses growing along the dikes alongside the robins.  When I have my camera though, I always seem to hear them only, as they call from distant trees, or watch them disappear as I am desperately trying to catch a single picture.

I finally had my chance, and was lucky enough to see a couple sitting in a tree along the dike… and they didn’t disappear the minute I focused my camera on them.  As with the herons and the eagle (I still can’t believe I saw all of them in an hour one morning), I am really noticing the noise at high ISO on my camera, but unfortunately in BC, lots of dreary, grey sky days are the norm, and quick moving birds require the fast shutter speed.