It's just that time of year.....
I know, I just posted about woodpeckers. Walking through the open space I got to witness something that's never happened to me before, four different types of woodpeckers in one day. A yellow-shafted northern flicker, a type of woodpecker that I've only seen a couple of times, flew right at me with its wings wide open. The woodpecker landed in the dense part of a tree, and although I took several pictures, none of them were keepers. Then as I continued on my walk, I saw downy woodpeckers, red-shafted northern flickers, and finally a ladderback who was way too busy to give me much notice. Walking back on the trail, heading towards the parking lot, I heard that familiar sound of a woodpecker on a tree. I was pretty tired at this point but decided to turn around and go investigate. I'm glad I did; there was a beautiful male ladderback woodpecker with his bright red crown. Ladderbacks get their name from the 'ladder' of stripes that goes all the way up the back. Males ...