Woodpecker Wonder

I'm so excited....

While talking to Glenn in the kitchen this morning, I happened to look out the nearest window and I saw a woodpecker pecking holes in my favorite sugar maple tree. I was concerned for my tree, but that bird really caught my attention.   For some reason, this woodpecker looked different from any I have ever seen before. As routine, I made a mad dash for my camera.   But, I was having trouble focusing through the screen on the lower pane of the window.   I decided to move to another room.

As I was passing another window to get my shot, I noticed a flicker. These birds are so big, you cannot miss them. So, first a few photos of the flicker before moving over a few feet to the window where I could get a better shot of the  'unknown' woodpecker.

I ended up standing on top of the bed so that I could take my photos through the upper pane of the double hung window - no screen there.

Look closely - female...

Then, looking back at the flicker, I noticed that there were two. More photos. The flickers bob their heads up and down so rapidly; I kept missing a good, as in not blurred, photo. Within five minutes, I took almost 50 pictures, culminating with two or three that passed for, what I call, good.

Minutes later, while looking more closely at my photos on the computer monitor, I discovered that the two flickers must be a couple -  one a male, one a female. I was thrilled!

male...see the black moustache?

Next stop, bird book.

The best I could figure, based on the description as no picture was included, is that the woodpecker on my maple was a juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker. We always have red-bellied woodpeckers poking around, but I do not recall ever seeing a yellow-bellied sapsucker; juvenile at that. This species is migratory in our area.    Again, thrilled!

Notice the freshly drilled holes....

What a special morning -  a exceptional way to start my day!