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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Important Northern Flicker Discovery!

Okay, things are back to normal on BLOGGER, and so I will attempt to share with you the most spectacular footage! The Northern Flicker doing something never before recorded, or seen - well, actually we saw this same family do this last year and no one believed us when we asked around about it. This year we got pictures AND video to back up our claims.
Without further ado, the official FIRST TIME EVER REPORT:

FLICKER MOVES THEIR EGGS!
Filmed by Jenny Macintosh & witnessed by Jenny Macintosh & Eliza Hargreaves for 2 years running:

It happened the same way last year. We watched the return of the Flickers, then the loud and colourful mating displays for weeks - followed by a quiet pause. Then one day we saw Mrs. Flicker leave the nest with an egg in her beak, HER OWN EGG! She returned mere moments later and got the next, and the next five times that we saw.
This year we watched the mating dance and then the quiet time followed. I kept my camera at the ready and we watched the nest from our side window. Not all the time around the clock, but pretty regularly. One morning over breakfast Eliza saw the first egg being moved and exclaimed! I tossed down my plate and grabbed my camera. I knew i had to be discreet because I didn't want to risk startling them or interrupting this delicate process. I crouched behind a parked car and took a still shot first to make sure I got at least SOME proof. Mr. Flicker returned and I took 2 videos of the move. It was spectacular! So lucky that we caught it happening again!
Apparently this sort of behavior for cavity nesting creatures is really unprecedented. I am trying to get this information to a cavity nesting expert at UBC, but she hasn't called me back yet.

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