I saw this one on June 17 (around 3p.m.) in Hatfield, MA. It was a fat bird, bigger than a dove, smaller than a duck, with long toes, a red triangle on the back of its head, and a mottled brown/buff back. As it flew away from me, I noticed that its underside was fat, round, and pure white. It wasn't a great flyer — it bumbled off this gravestone and onto the ground, then took off again, barely clearing a 5-foot hedge. When it took off, its wings made an audible thwap-thwap sound, like a goose or a pheasant.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of it. You can't see the beak in this photo, which makes it tough to identify. I'm kicking myself because I startled it.
I've looked at 12 websites and 3 books on birds of New England, but I've had no luck.
Suggestions?
2 comments:
Thanks!
I'm a terrible bird watcher — I clomp around and don't know any of the species — but I'm always excited to see anything other than a robin or a chickadee.
Here are some more Flicker pictures:
http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Birds/Flickers.aspx
I'm disappointed that your flicker links aren't to pictures on Flickr.
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