I had a lovely surprise this morning, under our bird feeder.

The first was a norther flicker, right under the bird feeder.

The only other time I’ve seen one was quite a while ago, and well away from the house.

It was quite thoroughly drilling into the dirt!

Look at those bright yellow streaks in the wings!

Unlike the one I saw last time, this one did not have the distinctive black big marking.  The difference between male and female, perhaps?

Then, while the girls and I were watching the norther flicker, a humming bird showed up!

I tried to get a photo, but it was moving so fast, I could barely get it in the camera frame, and it would be gone.  Focus?  What’s that!

However, I did get this shot that I really like.

Completely out of focus, but has an artsy feel to it that I really like.

I’m told we only have one variety of hummingbird in our area; the ruby throated humming bird.  This one, which had no red on it, and its back was very green and shiny, would have been a female.

In the near future, we intend to plant a butterfly and hummingbird garden.  :-)

The Re-Farmer