Mike in the Wild

I reliably see four different species of woodpeckers throughout the long summers I spend in Prescott.  In fact, every day I bear witness to the northern flickers, acorns, hairys, and ladderbacks that visit my yard's suet feeders.  The only other one I've seen on my property has been a red-naped, and that was during autumn several years ago, as the woodpecker foraged high in a ponderosa pine.  But then yesterday, on my only visit to Granite Basin Lake all summer, I encountered an entirely new species, the Lewis's.  The only other time I've seen a Lewis's woodpecker was just over a year ago, along the Animas River in Durango, Colorado.  I was struck by it's unique coloration, not exhibiting mostly black and white like almost all of its local kin but showing a unique greenish backside and a torso splashed with winey red.  And true to its reputation, the bird was acting more like a flycatcher as it made forays from a lamppost in its hunt for insects. At Granite...