Ladder-backed Woodpecker on Canon City Riverwalk

I was surprised to find this female Ladder-backed Woodpecker on a dry hillside adjacent to the Canon City Riverwalk. As can be seen the bird is in a tree cholla, which is their habitat in this area. Though the Canon City area is predominately semi-arid, we have a large riparian corridor along the Arkansas River and the Riverwalk parallels the river in many places. But we have cholla cactus interspersed with the riparian vegetation in dry sections including hillsides.

In the three decades I have been birding along the Canon City Riverwalk this is the first time I have seen a Ladder-backed Woodpecker here though I have thought I saw one a few miles further down the river corridor a few years ago(quick look so dismissed it as wrong habitat). I did see one last year in another, though less extensive riparian habitat around a small stream. I do occasionally find them outside of Canon City in predominately cactus-grassland or juniper-cactus habitats. SeEtta