There was a day a while back when I was out in the backyard and heard a woodpecker quite nearby, but couldn’t spot her. She was a shy little thing.
Can you see her right in the middle of this picture, in this dead-ish tree in the neighbor’s yard?
I swear she was actively working to keep a branch or trunk of the tree between me and her.
And doing a really good job of it.
Over the next couple of weeks I would hear her banging away on some nearby tree every now and then, but rarely had a chance to even spot her at all, let alone get my camera and snap a picture. But eventually I caught her roosting and resting way, way up in that huge tree in our back yard:
Better, but not great. However, with a decent picture of her spots and plumage, I was able to get a positive ID in the Cornell Merlin app…
…and find out that she’s a female Nuttall’s Woodpecker!
She’s ID’d as female because there’s no red patch on top of her head. I’ll have to keep an eye out for a male companion. (And that is one SHARP looking little beak!)
Eventually I’ve caught her for some better pictures.
I’ve always loved woodpeckers, they’re so unique and colorful. I would love to have a couple of pairs of pileated woodpeckers, MUCH larger birds, but they don’t hang out in this part of the country. (But if you’re watching the Cornell Lab FeederWatch at Sapsucker Woods live webcam, you’ll see them there every day.)
Rat-a-tat-tat!!
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 