Crozet, VA 1/7/2021

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Lickinghole Creek and Basin; Crozet Connector Trail

I've been trying to get over to the Lickinghole Creek/Basin and adjacent Crozet Connector Trail at least once a week to look for the unusual Northern Flicker with reddish orange wing coloring that I spotted on November 19, 2020. As soon as I arrved at the Fairwinds Lane cul-de-sac, my moving car spooked a Northern Flicker from a perch just above eye level and at the edge of the cul-de-sac. I didn't have my camera ready before it flew away. A minute or so later, just after I started hiking, I heard the Flicker call, and hiked back to the cul-de-sac. I saw a male Northern Flicker fly from the edge of the cul-de-sac to another tree a bit deeper in the woods. A quick photo shows the red underwing coloring.

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Male Northern Flicker

I got as many photos of this Flicker as I could, and then a female flew in and landed below the male. After a minute or so, the male took off, and then the female. A flight photo of the partial underwing of the female does not show the red coloring. I don't see any facial or other features on the male to indicate a yellow-shafted/red-shafted intergrade, so I suspect that the red feather coloring was a diet-induced effect. If anyone has an opinion to the contrary, I would appreciate hearing them.

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Male Northern Flicker

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Male Northern Flicker

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Male Northern Flicker

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Male and female Northern Flickers

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Female Northern Flicker

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Female Northern Flicker

I continued hiking, and ended up with 26 avian species. Notably missing from my list today are the Bald Eagle and shorebirds.

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Field Sparrow

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White-throated Sparrow

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Downy Woodpecker

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Pileated Woodpecker

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Golden-crowned Kinglet

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Eastern Bluebird

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Carolina Wren

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Dark-eyed Junco

I saw a couple of uncommon species for winter months here.

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Chipping Sparrow

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Eastern Phoebe

This morning's list:

Canada Goose
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal


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