A couple of weeks ago, I was in my backyard chatting with my neighbor when I heard a tap...tap behind me.
Thinking the sound was something flapping in the light breeze, I glanced over my shoulder, saw nothing and continued talking to my neighbor.
Moments later, I heard the sound again, but this time it came from above me. I looked up and no more than 10 feet above my head, on the truck of the Lodgepole Pine I was standing next to, was a bird I hadn't seen before.
Before my neighbor came out, I had been taking pictures of a slug I found on the walkway, so I lifted the camera and took two shots. The bird then moved to the other side of the trunk, stay a couple of seconds, then flew off.
Of the two images I shot, only one showed the bird. However, the image is a bit degraded due to a branch from the pine moving between the camera and bird. The second image I got, the branch completely covered the bird.
After much checking and opinions from other birders in this area, we have determined that the bird is a hybrid of the Red-breasted and Red-naped Sapsuckers.
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