Redheaded Woodpecker

Pat saw this guy first on April 27, 2002, the first sighting of this species for us since we have been birdwatching. He came back a few times a couple of weeks later, so Jan got to see him, and we managed to get a couple of shots. He never did hit any of the feeders, but he is under one of the suet feeders here, and we're pretty sure he was eating suet that had fallen.

In this image he had taken flight a split second before we hit the button. These birds are very striking in their coloration... the head is a solid, deep red, and the rest of their body is either jet black or bright white.

We haven't seen him since, but here's hoping he and his family are hanging around the area. Actually, we're not sure if its a "he" or a "she"... our books lead us to believe that this is one of the only species of woodpecker that is not dimorphic.