I suspect that I may qualify as a stalker, because I spent over thirty minutes on Friday sitting on a fallen tree, observing every movement of a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) high in the oak trees.
The small branches and the shadows made it almost impossible to get a clear shot of the little bird, but they did not keep me from trying. I was really fortunate to get this shot of the woodpecker as it took off from one of its perches with an acorn in its mouth and gave me a glimpse of its beautifully-patterned wings. As I understand it, when the Red-Headed Woodpecker becomes an adult, its wings will be pure black and white, so I am glad that I was able to get the shot of the black dots.
After I posted this photo, I noticed that there is a least one acorn jammed into a crack in the bark just above the top edge of the bird’s tail, mostly likely a snack that it has cached for future consumption.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I call it having a lot of patience but ‘bird stalker’ works too! I’ve done it more than a few times myself.
I played “ring around the tree” with a woodpecker for quite awhile one day recently and finally gave up without a single shot. Because of that I can really appreciate a photo like this one.
Fabulous! Now you just have to wait a few months until this juvenile molts his beautiful red head feathers. You already know where he lives!
I can hardly wait–I think there are two juveniles.
This is great ! I always miss this shot. Hope you have a great week off and look forward to your return.
Thanks. If I am lucky, I ‘ll get a chance to take a few shots with my point-and-shoot and post them (I just wanted to alert folks in case that doesn’t happen).