Peregrinations: Vernal Visitations

One of the joys of spring comes from seeing old friends return, even when winter makes a last desperate blast. I'm happy to say that some unwelcome snow and wind didn't spoil the arrival of this female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus):

I grabbed my camera when I heard her call. The dark gray sky didn't make shooting her an easy task, but we nature photographers thrive on challenges. She made the short flight to the suet feeder and held fast while the wind swung it about:

I've been hearing the flickers around the neighborhood for a few weeks, but this was my first good sighting of one. Now that spring has arrived in force, they're much more plentiful.

With the improved weather we're back out on the lunchtime lookout for Peregrines and other birds in the High Falls area. This American Kestrel nest, occupied last year, isn't showing signs of use in 2007:

We see the Kestrels flying through the area, so our working theory is that they've put down stakes in one of the nearby unoccupied buildings, several of which have broken windows or other spots for the industrious little falcons to commandeer for a nest site. We'll keep our eyes open to see if we can spy out their new lair.

People-watching can be as much fun as falcon-watching, and spring definitely brings out the people. Here comes a cool customer:

Yep, it's Cornpoppy displaying a bit of macho flair in his leather jacket and black denim jeans. James Dean's got nothing on this fellow.

Back on the homefront, the American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) are out in their bright breeding plumage:

Nothing says spring like these bright "lemonbirds".

Speaking of flair, few birds are more flamboyant than my favorite woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus:

A recent visit to my backyard suet feeder-- in better weather than the poor flicker above-- was a great opportunity to get this guy some blog time after an absence of many months. Thanks to my long zoom lens, I got some nice detail shots: