Yellow-bellied sapsucker

The morning dawned frosty, and on my walk, I had a fine time photographing silver etchings on oak leaves, grass blades, and the roof of my neighbor's ancient and decrepit shed. By noon-time, though, it had warmed considerably, and all of the silver was gone, replaced, more or less, by green, gold, or, in many cases, brown. When I walked down our long driveway to fetch the mail, I brought along my camera, and once I spotted a few small, energetic birds that I suspected might be newly-arrived kinglets, I decided to follow them, as they flew across the street and landed in the old apple trees that crown the meadow. The sprites weren't being cooperative, and the best I could do was come up with some images that would enable me to identify them—they were Ruby-crowned Kinglets, by the way—but I did a bit better when it came to a shadow amongst the apple branches. Here, too, I couldn't get a perfect shot. But I did manage an interesting picture, and one that was worth a thousand-word field-guide entry. White wing patch, red throat, sharp bill—clearly enough to call this a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. No need to see the belly for assurance... the apple bark was riddled with sapsucker holes. Those by themselves would have been enough.