Woodpeckers
Flicker
Colored pencil drawing on a sheet of asphaltum-stained paper from a dead specimen - Kalamazoo Nature Center Ornithologiocal labs.
I first encountered flickers when as a young bird-hunter, I swung on and nearly shot flushing flickers in woodcock habitat. As a nascent birder I had difficulties differentiating their calls from pileated woodpeckers and later as a homeowner had to learn forbearance as they drummed on my gutters to establish territories. They are such atypical woodpeckers whose flash of yellow or red in flight is a generous gift of unexpected beauty that the world holds in store for us.