[obol] Red-naped Sapsucker in Tabor (Mult)

[Tom McNamara]

At about 11:15 this morning I was walking the dog in Mt Tabor park  just prior to having to leave for a meeting.....I  had the  binos. Checking  out a flock of chickadees, GC kinglets and creepers I happened upon a sapsucker.  Even a Red-breasted is  not common here on Tabor but Red-naped is the proverbial good bird.  
 It was way browner on the head and breast than any red-naped I'd seen. I was thinking juvenile or hybrid juvenile and, later, when I had a chance to check out Kaufman's book  I found this:  ".... although the young Red-napeds may retain a lot of brown on the breast during the fall." I felt that pretty well cinched it.   I can't speak for the brownish head  (Kaufman says that by  mid to late Sept.  they should  have adult-looking head plumage)  but  I can say it was  NOT red all over (eliminating Red-breasted) . Also the white cheek striping seemed quite  truncated, It was there on the cheek but did not continue on to the  side of neck and then reverse toward the breast. Or perhaps that impression was a function of the bird's posture. Overall, the top, back, and sides of the head were not well demarcated and contrasty  just rather brownish (with the exception of the white cheek stripe)   I got one good look at the throat which was fully red and well demarcated  but, per above, did not contrast nicely with a black breast. 
The "white" markings on the back seemed pretty dingy. 

I did a very quick Google search but couldn't come up with any real good lookalikes for this bird.  

I saw the bird in what is rather extravagantly referred to by some as "the canyon" (I can't bring myself to call it anything more than a small valley). It runs basically east/west and is just south of the baskbetball courts/cinder cone area. 

The bird was trading back and forth in the Doug Firs perhaps 40-45 up. I would've loved to hang out and get possible better looks but there was that aforementioned meeting thing....

I did go back out about 4ish to see if I  could re-locate it. But no go.  
There's  one local birder who, when he wants to see a Red-naped,  merely extracts  one from his freezer (a road kill) but, B, it's better if you seem 'em flying rather than beholding an icy effigy,  eh.     ;-) 
chow,
Tom
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