Buff Spotted Flameback (Chrysocolaptes lucidus)

A beautiful image of this equally beautiful Woodpecker.

.... and not only saw him, but got a great picture of him too Nick.

Very well done lad - thanks for sharing it with us.

Wow, quite a great looking bird! Super capture, well done!

Isn't he gorgeous, Nick.

I am going to question this one as it is unlike the Greater Flameback that I see regularly nor like any of the other photos on Opus.

it may be a sub species from the Philippines or a different woodpecker from that area.

I am going to come back again on this as I have just done search on the Oriental Bird Club Data Base and see that there are photos of this bird taken in the Philippinens under Greater Flameback.

Also gives sub species as per :
Greater Goldenback, Greater Golden-backed Woodpecker, Larger Golden-backed Woodpecker, Large Golden-backed Woodpecker, Crimson-backed Woodpecker (stricklandi), Crimson-backed Goldenback (stricklandi), Crimson-backed Flameback (stricklandi), Greater Flame-backed Woodpecker, Golden-backed Four-toed Woodpecker, Luzon Flameback (haematribon), Yellow-faced Flameback (xanthocephalus), Red-headed Flameback (erythrocephalus), Buff-spotted Flameback (rufopunctatus), Javan Flameback (strictus)

I suggest this is "Stricklandi"

Thanks for your comment robby. I bow to your superior knowledge. I'm relatively new to birding and I wholeheartedly welcome corrections when I'm wrong. My one and only field guide doesn't cover the Philippines, only SE Asia. I have since done a bit more searching and the closest comparison I've seen is the Buff spotted Flameback. Thanks once again.

This is an adult male Chrysocolaptes haematribon (Luzon Flameback). Most taxa of the "lucidus" group have now been split as good species, and this is one of them.