Northern Flicker at the MJC Mini-wilderness

The Northern Flicker is such a lovely bird. I've been seeing more and more of them, and I am having a hard time understanding how I could have missed them in the past. I've seen them near my house, at Chaw'se Grinding Stone State Park, at the Joe Domecq Wilderness Area, on the bluffs above the Tuolumne River (almost every time I wander down there), and the Turlock Lake State Recreational Area. This week was a new locality, and it was somewhat of a surprise: it was on the west campus of Modesto Junior College, in my little "mini-wilderness". The area had been overrun with thousands of robins for several weeks during the week, but they've moved on, and other birds seem to be taking up residence. Up in the highest tree I spotted a unique shape and snapped a quick picture, and found upon closer inspection that it is the first Northern Flicker I've seen on campus.

I said yesterday that the Cedar Waxwings are the most colorful birds found in our area, but the Flickers give them a lot of competition.