Woodpecker Identification

Here's a post that comes from the Chantilly/Centreville area of Fairfax County, Virginia.  There's a lot of land in these places, both public and private, where I am camera-trapping.

The camera was originally placed to see the medium-sized to large mammals roaming around, but another species flew by and landed right in the camera's view.

It's a new species for me (at least for my camera trapping), but the problem is, I don't know what species this is.

It's either a downy woodpecker or a hairy woodpecker, but which?

Whenever I have questions about species I first try to identify it myself.  This is tough on this one, so I emailed and texted the pictures to my colleagues that have jobs and experiences such as birders, wildlife biologists, natural resource managers, and naturalists.

Some of them say hairy woodpecker, others say downy woodpecker.  So far, all of us think it is one of the two, but conversations of sapsuckers have also arisen.

I'd really like to solve this mystery.

Other important information that may be necessary to note is that the camera's date stamp is incorrect, and that this was in Fairfax, Virginia.  The correct date stamp should read, "11-19-2013".  The pictures in this post are the only pictures I captured of it.

What bird is this?

Comments below are greatly appreciated.

Owling Again

The young camera-trapper in action in a bacteria infested silo.  Photo credit:  Chelsea Millis

I've taken a few trips to see the barn owls in Leesburg in the past few weeks.

They don't get close enough for me to get a good picture, and will fly away as soon as I make eye contact with them.

I have taken a few friends to see the owls and to try to get good pictures of them, but even they have trouble with their DSLR cameras. 

My camera-traps in the bottoms of these barns and silos have not gotten any pictures of the owls.  A new method will have to be found and thought of.

It's tough.