[birding] E.E. Wilson sapsucker

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

At around 3 PM today I had a brief look at a sapsucker fitting the
general description that Rich Armstrong posted yesterday, back in the
trees just across Camp Adair Rd. from E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area
headquarters. 

The exact location was straight west of the ODFW employees' residence
that's south of Camp Adair Rd., in an older but rather squat big-leaf
maple about 60 ft back in the trees from the the paved street on the
west side of the residence (C Street, I think, according to the old Camp
Adair map; it has a locked gate on it). There is an old foundation with
some sort of old rusty metal flower pot(?) sitting in the middle of it,
just south of this tree if you walk out in the woods.

My best view was from the street and through the first row of trees. I
had it in the bins for maybe a second at most as it perched on the side
of the tree about 15-20 ft up off the ground, then hopped around to the
back. I went fishing for my camera but somehow the bird snuck off while
I was doing that. I think it may have flown east past the residence,
then around to the south.

Rather than give a $20 description for a two-bit view, let me just say
that the head pattern was very vivid with red on the top of the head,
strong black-and-white pattern on the face as expected for Red-naped or
Yellow-bellied, throat was vivid red with a bit of a black border on the
breast, and dingy yellowish to gray below that. I can't say for sure if
there was red on the nape. It looked good for Red-naped or else
Yellow-bellied (male), and the head pattern looked very clean (no
smearing of red as on a daggetti-type Red-breasted Sapsucker). The dingy
breast & flanks seem to fit with Rich's impression of a bird that has
retained some juvenal plumage in those areas.

OK, that's about a $5 description for a two-bit view, but there you have
it.

Before I heard the bird, I heard it call from the trees that are just
south of the residence. It gave a mewing "meeah" sort of call that was
similar to, but seemed a bit softer than typical Red-breasted Sapsucker.
I then saw it fly over head to high up in a tree right by Camp Adair
Rd., and from there it dropped back to the big-leaf maple where I got my
brief view. Can't say much about the bird in flight except it flew like
a sapsucker and I could see a flash of white from the wings, and
generally was more brownish/grayish than the local sapsuckers.

If I saw a bird that looked like this on my BBS route in the Ochocos,
I'd just call it a Red-naped Sapsucker and move on to the next stop. But
over here, I'd prefer to see more. One thing that makes me pause is that
the black-and-white head pattern on the head was very strong with
proportionally a lot of white (reminding me of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers
that I've seen in the Mojave, in terms of the amount of white). So if I
was going just on my own view, I'd be thinking hard about Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker (though far from confident).

Anyway it seems like the bird is staying in that area so I think
eventually someone will get a better view and/or a diagnostic photo. It
does seem a little more shy than most of our local sapsuckers, so might
take some patience.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis