Yesterday afternoon I received a text message from a birding friend who sent me a screenshot of an email from Betsy Schults, which noted that she had just seen a Red Headed Woodpecker at their house on Elm St in Norwich. I had not read the email yet and I was right in town. I got my mom (also a birder) and we grabbed our cameras and binos and headed out. We got up to their house, where Bill and Betsy explained that the bird had been there, showed us a quick cell phone photo which confirmed the ID and pointed out the feeder and tree they had seen it on. It was great to confirm that it was a true sighting and not the Red Bellied Woodpecker, which can be misleading since it also has a red head.
As we talked I started to hear a Woodpecker call, similar to the red bellied but when listening carefully I could tell it was different. As another birder showed up and they talked I slowly walked around the garden fence toward the calling bird and of course started listing the birds on my ebird app that I was hearing and seeing. Goldfinches, Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks...as I stood listening and watching, scanning the trees at the edge of their yard and looking back toward the feeder they had pointed out, the Red Headed Woodpecker flew right over my head along with a Blue Jay into the beautiful apple tree. I yelled (softly) to the rest of the group to alert them and was able to kneel in the grass to get some beautiful views as it picked around the branches of the apple and flew back and forth to the feeder calling often.
I am not a photographer, but was excited to capture a few shots as this was a new lifer bird for me for Vermont and an exciting find for Windsor County. Lifers are as exciting as gettinga personal best in a sport, it is when a birder sees a bird they haven't seen before or havent seen in a certain region like a state or a county. I had only recorded this bird once in Virginia prior.
Per allaboutbirds.org this species is listed as Threatened in Canada and US. The typical range for breeding only gets as close to us as the Champlain Valley and west and southern Massachusetts and south.
Here are some links about the bird:
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/rehwoo/cur/introduction