Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Buddy Attick Park on November 15, 2019. I went out with another photography friend for several hours to Buddy Attick after we had finished at another bird hotspot nearby, Lake Artemesia. The lake at Buddy Attick has been drained a fair bit recently to do work on the dam there so the birding was looking lackluster when we arrived. Just a few Hooded Mergansers in the portion of the lake that had water but were too far out for good shots. We decided to keep moving around the dried portion of the lake to see if we would find anything.

We had fantastic luck when I saw a hawk fly nearby into a tree. It stayed there for several minutes before flying back to the pond behind the lake. We followed it but the angle was harsh to shoot it. It flew off back into the woods. When I went up the path to see how far back it went, I saw what I thought was a Downy Woodpecker in the tree. To my surprise, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! It posed briefly before flying off. I don't often find sapsuckers though they are common in Maryland. This was my first sapsucker of 2019 and only my second time seeing one.

Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 600mm on Nikon D500