Today, the winter’s birds decided to celebrate the sun in the same trees and the same hill at the same time. There were thousands. The waxwings kept to themselves, the hawk wanted to eat everyone else (yesterday was for love-making, which wasn’t precisely private), the pheasants were busy being chased by coyotes and luring them astray in turn, but everyone else was in on this: robins, redpolls, chickadees, sparrows, flickers, but not the doves, no. They’re new here. They keep to themselves, not knowing the language of things. Isn’t flicker showing his colours, eh!

There are probably 100 birds in view in this image, or there would be if I had a $10,000 camera.

Well, quite a number of flickers flashing around, really.

And robin, very nice!

Indeed.