Out and About:( When I thought Ten Degrees Was Cold) A Story Through Glass

On December fourteenth it was a cold morning. It was ten degrees. Little did I know that in a couple of weeks we would be dealing with wind chills below zero and daytime temperatures in the single digits. This December morning, I glanced out my glass kitchen door to look at my bird feeders. There on a suet cage, sat a male Northern Flicker. I stopped to watch him. There he sat. Minute after minute went by and he continued to just hang-out. Finally, after ten minutes, he began to eat. Enter a Blue Jay. A Noisy one. The flicker didn't budge. The jay left but wait... he came back. Now both suet cages were occupied by woodpeckers and the jay voiced his dismay loudly. Neither woodpecker looked up from breakfast. The jay vocally carried on but then stopped. It realized pieces of suet were dropping on the ground. It dove down to eat its own breakfast. The photos are taken through the glass door so as not to disturb the birds and because it was cold. Ha! Note the yellow under the flicker's tail. There's yellow under the wings too. We have the yellow-shafted group in our area. There is a red-shafted group elsewhere.

Male Northern Flicker

Finally Starts Eating

Enter: Noisy Blue Jay

With Suet in its Bill, Flicker Gives Jay a Dirty Look When Jay Leaves

But Wait! Jay is Back

Jay Dives for Suet Pieces on Ground