For at least a week I heard this red-shafted flicker pecking at something. I thought he must have found his favourite fir tree. Finally, camera in hand, I went looking for him and zeroed in on the sound. Here is where I found him, on the wall of an empty house.  I zoomed in from afar to see what he was up to.  It seems that the siding of a house was more appealing to him than any of the many trees surrounding it. Why is  he so determined to peck through this siding? Apparently he prefers the density of cedar to fir but flickers don’t eat wood, so he must be after something else.

If you look closely to his left, you can see a patch from where he made a hole last year. Above and below him also on the left are patched places where he had picked at the edges of the wood.  There must be something very tasty inside those walls. Maybe a delicious lunch awaits him.