Our most spectacular neighborhood bird, the Northern Flicker, paid a visit to the backyard pond this morning. The pond is really a stock tank whose purpose, in addition to the entertainment provided by its undirected ecosystem, is to serve as a watering hole for neighborhood birds.

Last weekend, Lissa banged through the ice and within a couple of hours there were half a dozen robins there drinking. This morning, our flicker popped down from the telephone pole along the back fence for a drink. I didn’t think he’d be able to get any, as the pond’s been frozen over lately. (Global warming? What global warming?) But he found a little bit of water showing over on one edge and plunked down on the ice for a long drink.