Red-headed woodpeckers are common and spectacular birds of the eastern US.   These birds -- not very cooperative and in poor light -- were in a flatwoods preserve near Venus, in southern Florida, and a riparian forest in Manhattan, Kansas

• digital captures, Canon 1D Mk. II or 1D3, 500 mm IS lens and 2X converter or 800 mm IS lens and 1.4X converter, fill-in flash (2006, 2009)