At last, the Rufous Wpkr

Once upon a time the Rufous Woodpeckers were quite often seen in the taman, even nested here.  Then there were infrequent reports of  sighting, and mainly singly; unfortunately I had not been so lucky and had walked the taman for so many years, yet had not chanced upon them.  It therefore became an earnest mission to seek and add this bird to my personal count of species in the taman which to date numbered 91.
Then came that morning, I almost walked past one!  Drawn by the persistent call of a bird, unfamiliar, I still almost couldn't locate it.  And when I finally did, imagine my joy (ecstasy actually) when I realised that it was THE one finally, even if it was only a sub-adult, I thought.  But wait, what's that - another one?  My heart skipped a bit, no, it's two more, making it a family of three!!

(The monkey is finally off my back!)

sub-adult

female

male, distinguished by the small red cheek-patch

When the sub-adult flew to the next tree it was promptly joined by its male parent.

And to my delight another one flew in and the way the young was fed suggested that it was by another adult, could only be the female.

From then on, it was a frenzy of delight trying to keep up with the family as these birds flew about to forage.  However, the harsh lighting did not make it any easy.
Nevertheless, it was quite a pressure (lol) as I raced about trying to capture the birds' antics.

female

young and female adult

The young was still being fed even as it foraged alongside its parents.

young and female adult

male and young

A light-hearted moment when I realised that these birds unwittingly came together like spokes in a wheel.

Another feeding moment, and it's just the female that's doing the feeding.

An opportune peep into the young's mouth.

Was glad to be able to capture the male sticking out its tongue to forage.

Father and child moment.

Another view of the young one.

This was certainly one of those rare occasions when I clicked away until I was almost too exhausted to continue, simply because of the more than 2kg lens I had to hold up!!  
Eventually the parents flew off to another tree, leaving the young to forage alone.
And I was certainly not prepared for what was to come next, the adults getting into a compromising position!