After being reminded by Scott Ramos in his Magnuson post on Oct. 5, of this temporary phenomenon that fall brings to birds, I was made keenly aware of some of it going on in my neighborhood, with Northern Flickers - a LOT of them - seemed like a group of young birds, out getting in voice and practicing some of the behaviors they would likely be involved in next spring. I wondered if most species and ages of birds are affected by the spring-mimicking daylight regimes we temporarily get in autumn ? And I wondered if this affects other species ? Of course humans can feel the "urge" any month of the year, but what about wild animals whose normal courtship and breeding is in spring, when the balance of daylight to dark is similar ? I've even noticed some neighborhood cats chasing after and sniffing each other, fighting and marking territory more than usual - a similar cause? Of course it is the season for elk and bighorn sheep, for example, to be in 'rut' for real - it IS their breeding season now.

This past weekend I went out, with camera in hand, and made some futile attempts to get a flicker or 2 in my field of view. Instead of birds I got a few backdrop shots of trees and enjoyed unexpected views and bird racket in the warm and wonderful 'final' days of summer.

Pairs of Northern Flickers practiced their sharp and noisy wicka, wicka, wicka calls and some of the courtship moves that the autumnal recrudescence of the amatory urge stimulates at this time of year. Mostly late afternoons, but sometimes mid-mornings as well. I'd start hearing them and would watch 2-5 of them interact first on a utility pole out front of the house (up to 3 at a time, chasing each other around the pole, reminiscent of squirrels), and finish up swirling around high up in the thick network of Oregon oak and California styrax tree branches in the side yard. Sun streamed through the spaces between branches, creating a 'magical mess' and successfully providing cover for the melee of fast-flittering flickers, as well as assuring my inability to capture any of the birds in my photos ! These photos set the mood with the tree backdrop - maybe your imagination can fill in the birds :-)

For 5 "backdrop" photographs, click on this Flickr (not flicker) link:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk4k1yTF


Barb Deihl
Matthews Beach Neighborhood - NE Seattle
barbdeihl at comcast.net