Melanerpes carolinus

This is a first: I’ve had plenty of downy woodpeckers, but none of their larger cousins. Until a couple of days ago, when this red-bellied guy showed up.

I’m not sure that he actually got to eat anything—he’s definitely big enough to have tripped the mechanism that closes off access to the seed. But he certainly looks like he’s trying.

And he’s as good a way as any to end this week.