[birding] sapsucker?

[rich armstrong]

1. nanette, tristen, & i did south 1/2 of e e wilson as part of airlie albany cbc today.
2. we saw a spasucker that we think might be a red-neped sapsucker. we know very little about sapsucker hybrids and subspecies, but we have seen many yellow-bellied and decent number of red-naped in texas, and many red-breasted here.
3. location - south side of camp adair road, right across from e e wilson hq, cross the gate and there is house on left. the bird was on the right in the 1st 100 feet after the gate.
4. i saw the bird for maybe 3 seconds beforeit flew a short distance. nanette saw it maybe 1-2 seconds before it flew. tristen found it later  just seeing the head before it flew.
5. the bird called 4-5 times from a tree where i could not see it at all. the call was a 1-note loud mew. i had no idea what a sapsucker calls like, but when tristen played red-naped on his ipod it sounded exactly like it and not like the 2-note different tone of red-breasted.
6. description
    a. i saw a sapsucker mostly from the side with head turned away from me. it had a small red nape, some red on throat (did not see throat well), no red anywhere else at all (none on chest or face), some yellow on belly, and a rather motley grayish looking side with white patch, but not a sharp white/dark deliniation as in adult sapsucker. my quick impression was that this was probably a 1st winter bird based on that. 
    b. nanette writes the following: I noticed the bird had quite a bit of yellow on its belly and side flanks. He had a white 'dog leg'  line  running along the side of his face. He had a little red on the forehead and the back of his head. I didn't notice any red on the throat. The color yellow was more distictive than the red. 
    c. tristen told me he jast saw red throat and no red on face.
7. i encourage people to try to find this bird and let us know what you think.
8. i also am interested in opinions of our description above as to whether it eliminates red-breasted or is good enough for red-naped or whatever. feel free to ask questions.
Rich Armstrong
541-753-1978
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