Lewis's Woodpecker - Melanerpes lewis

At Lake Solano Park, near the end of Pleasants Valley Road, 10-15 Lewis's Woodpeckers were busy sallying out from the tops of the trees to catch flying insects. Others carrying acorns, some so large the bird would lose it in flight.

Birds at the tops of trees are a challenge for the photographer, and the Lewis's rarely stayed for any length of time before launching for another insect:

The above photo shows the adult Lewis's WP, with red face, gray chest and collar, rose belly and green back. Note the bill, shape, which is rather broad at the gape to facilitate capture of flying prey. The bill is less sturdy than that of many woodpeckers, so Lewis's has to find a dead tree to excavate a nest hole, often choosing a burned Ponderosa Pine forest in the foothills, or further north.

Turns out that Lewis's Woodpeckers cache food much like their Acorn Woodpecker cousins, using a tree as a granary to sustain them when other food sources are diminished during the winter. Rather than using carefully constructed holes to hold each morsel, the Lewis's will break the acorns and stash the mast in nooks and crannies of tree bark, or in a cavity. The cache is aggressively defended, as there is a lot of poaching by Acorns Woodpeckers, and vice versa.

We saw a number of Lewis's there that were darker and more monochromatic, indicating a juvenile bird, and some like in the second photo that were just replacing their juvenal plumage with adult type feathers, with red in the face, green sheen on the back and rose underparts. No problem confusing this species with any other woodpecker, for sure.

Lewis's Woodpecker is an bird of western U.S., with a breeding range that includes southern Canada and a wintering range that includes Baja California. Their numbers have declined, and they are rarely seen in large numbers at any location. Some of them don't migrate at all, or form small flocks to search for productive foraging areas. Such nomadic behavior makes finding them unpredictable, kind of like looking for a roving flock of Pinyon Jays. In some years Lake Solano park becomes a destination for the winter, as there is a good supply of acorns, flying insects, and one of their favorite berries, that of the Oak Mistletoe. Which brings us to another great reason to visit Lake Solano Park, as the mistletoe attracts a small population of Phainopepla each year. Other goodies there includes a good selection of river ducks and dabblers, along with Wood Ducks. Best go on a weekday if possible, as it is a popular area for picnics, fishing, etc.

Here's an older shot of an adult Lewis's Woodpecker, from a trip to the Central Valley: