Northern Flicker Nest

I watched a Northern Flicker working on a dead tree in my front yard for about an hour and a half today. I am hoping that it will complete the nest and I'll get to see some youngsters! The tree is about 50 feet from my computer room (on the second floor of my house). The nest cavity is a little above eye level from that window.

 In the picture above you can see the wood chips it was scooping out of the cavity. This cavity faces almost exactly west. Lots of afternoon sun! The only thing I'm concerned about is that Crows and Hawks like to perch in the tree right next to this one. I hope they nest there but I'm afraid they will abandon it. I'll just have to see how this plays out. For now I'm just enjoying watching the work!

Check back here to keep an eye on the progress of the nest. I'll try to post pictures everyday but that will depend on a lot of things that are out of my control. At any rate I'll be posting more.....

Sunday April 11, 2010
Ok, I've got good news and bad news.
The good news is that the Flicker is still working on the tree. The even better news is that today it's the female. It's the first time I've seen her there! Although I've only been watching the nest since yesterday! I'm almost ready to call it a nest for sure!

The bad news is the lighting. I'm looking almost directly into the morning sun. That will make getting photos very difficult in the morning. I'm hoping that when the sun gets higher in the sky it will shine on the nest for most of the afternoon.

I've removed the screen on the window of my computer room and will have a perfect line of site to the cavity. It also allows me to be about 20 feet closer and 10 feet higher. Should be perfect! I'm going to try to get some flash units out there to help with the lighting conditions. I don't know how well that will work but it's worth the effort!

Here's some pictures from this morning of the Female at the cavity. As I said, the lighting conditions were tough so I did a little fooling around with Photoshop to try to get them a little clearer.

You can see her tongue in the photo below:

Both Flickers have been working on the nest all day. I've mostly seen the Female but the male was working a little also. I can see that this is going to disrupt a lot of things I really should be doing! I didn't want to scare them off today so I'll just have to find another time to mow the lawn! Hmmmm, do I have the right priorities? Yep!

Here's a couple of photos from this afternoon. I used a 1.4x converter to get a little closer. I don't really like to use the converter but this is a more controlled and consistent subject so I get a little more time to get things set right! Below are the shots, both of the female:

Monday April 12, 2010
Not much to report today as I was out all day and didn't get home until after sunset. I did see the male this morning, perched in an adjacent tree. I've done a little research on the internet and will share the information with you. I did a cut-n-paste from other web sites which I give credit and links to for further reading if you are so inclined:

"Nest Sites and Shelter
Northern flickers excavate nest sites in dead or dying trees, aging utility poles, fence posts, and house siding. They will also use specially designed nest boxes.

The birds use their stout beaks to chisel down 6-18 inches, making a wide bottom for the egg chamber.

Nest holes may be started but never completed, possibly due to poor location or quality of the wood. Occasionally flickers will re-use a nest hole after doing some minor work to it.

Both male and female flickers excavate the nest, the male doing substantially more than the female. Complete excavation may take only a few days in soft wood, but averages 14 days.

Eggs are laid on wood chips created during excavation of the nest.
 

Reproduction
The breeding season for Northern flickers is from March to June, with young leaving the nest as late as mid-July.
Both male and female flickers incubate the 5 to 8 eggs for about 11 days, then brood the newly hatched young for about 4 days.

Both sexes feed the young, which leave the nest after 24 to 27 days.

The parents continue to feed the young once they fledge, and soon the young begin to follow the adults to foraging sites and gather their own food.

Individual flickers return to the same area to breed year after year. " ~ Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Tuesday April 13, 2010
This morning I didn't see any activity at the nest but the Female was perched in the adjacent tree keeping watch over the nest (I guess).

This evening when I returned home there was still no activity at the cavity but the male was watching over the nest. I guess the construction has been completed (I hope so anyway!)

Here's a shot I really like for some reason. It's a silhouette of the male keeping watch over his home!

Wednesday April 14, 2010
I'm going to call it a nest! I just got home and checked out the tree. The male (I think) was sitting in the opening. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get any photos. But I think the fact that it was in the hole tells me that it's going to be their nest. Either the male or female have been there or perched in the tree somewhere for the last two days.  If they are successful, I hope to see some youngsters. I probably won't be able to see them until they are about ready to fledge but I'll keep watching! If all goes well it should be about a month.

Saturday April 17, 2010
Work continues on the nest. I've only seen the male working on the nest today. He was working most of the day on digging out the nest cavity. He would go into the nest and grab some wood chips and drop them out of the nest. As seen in the drawing above he appears to be digging down in the trunk of the thee. It must be getting pretty deep in there as I cannot see any movement in hole after he goes in. I can see his tail feathers occasionally while he is digging out the bottom of the nest. Here is a shot of the male with a mouth full of wood chips he is about to drop out of the nest cavity.

He then drops the wood chips out of the nest. The picture below shows the wood chips falling from the tree.

If anyone can identify the tree I would be greatly thankful! I'm not the best a tree identification but would love to know what this tree is/was.

I've also entered this nest into Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Nest Watch program. If you have seen any nesting activity in your area, you might want to enter the information into this database. The more data the better! They are at http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/nest/home/index

You can also follow them on twitter at: @NestWatch

Saturday May 01, 2010

Not much to report on for the last few days. I haven't seen (but have heard) the Flickers. I'm hoping this is a good sign as they may be deep in the nest cavity. But I sure would like to see one of them somewhere around the nest cavity! I'll keep looking and hoping!


Monday May 10, 2010
Well, I haven't seen any Flickers at the nest cavity for the last 9 days. I think they may have abandoned it! I'll keep watching but my fears of them abandoning it may be coming true. Bummer! I still have a little hope though... why, I don't know!


Sunday May 23, 2010
Fantastic NEWS!
I've been watching the Flickers nest cavity for any activity for the last three weeks without seeing any activity. I was almost going to declare the nest abandoned but, kept hoping!

Well, today when I got home I saw the male and female at the nest! The most activity I've seen in three weeks! I guess things are happening deep in the cavity where I can't see. Here's a few shots from this evening. First one is the female flying out with the male keeping guard.

the next photo is mom and dad in the adjacent tree

Mom in the nest

Mom at the entrance of the nest cavity

I am very happy to see that they didn't abandon the nest! I'll try to keep posting picutres of the progress!

Larger versions of most photos can be seen on my web site in the Flicker Gallery:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/839424_y4Bry#832951523_54pUV