This evening I did my week's laundry. As is my custom, I dumped the
contents of my laundry basket into the washing machine, set it to
large load and cold water, and added detergent. About an hour later I
heard the machine stop, so I went to transfer the laundry to my dryer.
As you may know, moving laundry from a top loading washer to a dryer
involves grabbing wads of damp cloth and shifting it to the dryer's
bin.

Imagine my surprise when I grabbed a rather dead, yet rather clean,
juvenile golden flicker! The poor bird was definitely a juvenile
given its size and its plumage -- it had tail feathers but the
primaries weren't fully fledged. Its tongue was half-way out of its
beak. I felt rather sorry for the poor bird, especially since I've
been enjoying watching the flicker parents and juveniles at my suet
feeder the past week. It's funny to see them wipe their beaks clean
from the suet.

My theory? I keep cats but they've been strictly inside the house
this year. However, the flickers like to nest at the top of my
chimney. It's not unusual to hear 'wika-wika-wika' echoing down the
flue in spring and summer. If the cats hear it, they often go to the
hearth and hunt around to find the tasty bird. Alas, they are often
stumped. My guess is that a fledgling tumbled down the flue and got
into the house, and the cat(s) had their way with it. Whether the
cat dropped the bird into my laundry, or the poor thing crawled there
for relief, I don't know.

As I write this, my cat is sitting next to the computer washing itself
dlligently. What could be in its mind?