Woodpecker

Meet Colaptes auratus - the Norther Flicker.

A common woodpecker around here this is an easy bird ID as the filed markings include a red patch on the back of the neck, black mustache, speckled breast topped with a black breast plate'.  Naturally, the girls do not sport a mustache.  

Wood pecker sightings have been on the up-tick lately with this summer being a banner season.  Likely a consequence of all of the dead and dying ash around here.  This is a cavity-nesting species and is the only member of the woodpecker family that prefers to feed on the ground.   

Which accounts for the photos taken by the trail camera of these birds picking-around on the ground hunting for insects.  They'll be departing any time now for wintering in the southern United States.

Of course these take-off shots are much more dramatic.