Red-shafted Northern Flicker: female (left), male (right)
Wednesday morning, as my sister and I were looking out the front window, we saw an unusual bird on the front lawn. My sister did some checking and determined that it was a Northern Flicker; more specifically, A Red Shafted Northern Flicker. When I looked it up, I determined that even more specifically, I believe it to be a female Red Shafted Northern Flicker.
I don’t believe I have ever seen one of these birds before and didn’t even know they existed. What do you know, you learn something new every day. I hope it sticks around and graces us with its presence again; it was a lovely bird.
Then this morning, I saw a robin in the backyard. And if that isn’t enough of a sign that Spring is arriving, when I ran out to Staples yesterday to get some needed office supplies, I noticed that the streets and parking lots all over were lined with these trees with beautiful white blooms – seemingly so suddenly! I took a picture on my phone:
At 207 S McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA 94954
I think these might be pear trees, but I don’t really know. All I know is that they are all over the place in town right now and just lovely.
Spring has always been my favorite time of the year. But what happened to winter this year? We never seemed to get much of that at all this year – and despite a fair amount of rain recently, we are in a serious drought situation. So, as much as spring is always welcome, it feels a little bit different this year.