Woodpecker from my Hike today.

[The_Caper]

Hi all:

Sorry all, this is not a great shot by any means but 200mm is my max reach right now and this guy was in amongst some branches. I had to crop it down to almost 50 percent I think so IQ suffers a bit.

Can anyone I.D. this bird for me, I am not sure what it is myself but I saw him on a tree coming back from my hike today.

 

[Antarctican]

Good shot in tough shooting conditions (ie backlit, far away, among branches etc)! Nice detail in the feathers and you got the black on black eye area to show. Well done.

I find the curved branch immediately over its head a wee bit distracting...guess it could be cloned out if you're not adverse to altering your pic a bit.

(Sorry, can't help with the ID.)

 

[Dynamic]

Hey Caper,

Don't be sorry about the quality of this picture. It is not easy to get a decent shot in conditions like that. I think you did great.
As far as ID, this is most likely a Black-backed Woodpecker. I am new to this business as well so I could be wrong but it looks like one anyways.

Happy New Year!

 

[The_Caper]

Thank you Antarctican and Dynamic,

Dynamic, you are indeed correct. I just came from a website for birds and it sure is a Black-Backed woodpecker. Here is the site, it's pretty cool, I just learned about it myself.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Black-backed_Woodpecker.html