a flicker in flight - or...

...something else?

once again - plans derailed... i started out with one thing in mind - ended up with something totally different in the que... that's okay - because it's got me very intrigued - i'm not sure i'm correct so need your help to confirm my suspicions...

as i was wondering around my little lake - interacting with the ducks - geese - squirrels and the like... i kept seeing this flash of red out of the corner of my eye - at first i thought perhaps i was observing a cardinal - but i've never seen one of those in these parts... i began to make my way over to where the flashes were - the bird was on the ground - i could swear it was a flicker and muttered so to myself... yet before i got within shooting distance, it took off - i snapped a couple anyway - just because

upon getting back home and uploading - low and behold - those shots turned out after all and look what i have... i've never gotten a flicker in flight on camera before - only seen them visually - i don't recall there being so much red, is there? and i don't see that traditional marking across the face that would identify this as a northern flicker - which is the kind usually seen here in colorado - so i'm a bit baffled... can anyone help identify?

whether flicker or not - it's pretty... and though i haven't gotten it in the best of detail due to its quick departure away from me - i feel pleased to have captured a bird in flight i never have before - especially since birds are not necessarily my forte - hence this little one has made for...

a

happy day.....