Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)

This isn't much, photographically speaking. But it is illustrative.

First of all, Northern Flickers, pretty much alone among the woodpecker population, are often found on the ground because they use their curved beaks to dig up ants and beetles. When they land in a tree, they often perch more like songbirds rather than cling to the side of the tree like other woodpeckers do. This appears to be a female, as she lacks the black bib (from what I can see in this view) and the red streak on her cheek that the male would have.

The second principle illustrated here is that when you go for a walk with your husband, and he is the sort who *has to* be in front, you have to be damned quick to catch a photograph of a bird that is down the path ahead of you, no matter how nicely it might be posing when you first see it. I did say "could you stop for a moment?" when I saw it land in front of us, but...

On the plus side, it is easy to see those "yellow shafts!"

We were nearly home at this point, having seen almost not a single bird save distant crows and Blue Jays, when all of a sudden this Flicker and about five Bluebirds appeared in front of us and progressed down the edge of the field just tantalizingly out of decent camera range. The extra shows this same Flicker and one of the Bluebirds on the same limb up ahead of us.

Is this wild enough color for WildWednesday?