My love of birds is exceeded only by my love for my wife, children, and family. It is a healthy obsession that has brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined. It is the passion responsible for our move to this high desert paradise in Southern Arizona. It is a love that see's me taking far too many photos of birds. I just cannot resist capturing their moments and viewing them later.

Given that, I found this image just different enough from my thousands of other Ladder-backed photos to stop and share it. I had to wonder what was so intriguing to this woodpecker that he took the time away from my suet block to look above him. His look was so intense and focused he just had to have spied something just above his head. Then I remembered, a female had landed on the branch above and opposite him. I must confess, before my marriage, I too have been guilty of stopping what I was doing to look at a pretty girl. And just as it was in my life when I did so, moments later the female bolted down and chased him off. I guess there is not that much difference between the males of each species.
Shoot Date: December 4, 2018
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Manual ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec at f/6.3 0 EV
Lens: TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD A011 @ 600 mm
ISO: 400