Woodpecker of the Year

I was going back over a billion files, playing with effects, and as usual, deleting the play, when I looked at this young male flicker shot, and I thought, well, that's about as good as I've gotten woodpeckerwise, so I'd better upload it for my DA bird-pals. After all, his beak is open, we can see his crest, and the yellow of his wings and under-tail can be seen. How likely is that? Note to Erin: this native red bud tree was planted ten feet from where I planned to hide with the lens, and the branches were trimmed (as you can see), so that a bird would one day stand just like this as he reaches for food (in this case it hangs four inches or so to the right of his beak). Its a tripod shot, of course, and he certainly wouldn't be there if I were moving around. Its a set up shot. So much for Wild Kingdom. But this was during the peak of last summer's killer drought in Kansas, and I don't think this chick would have made it, were it not for the food and water Nana and I supplied, so if he had to work as my model, its only fair!!! The colors have not been saturated, so they look soft, but that is because he's an immature bird.