Regarding the initial post, it is just as you think, a Northern Flicker, and everything we can see suggests it is the red-shafted form: salmon-red in the wings and tail (rather than yellow), a gray face (rather than brown), a plain brown nape (rather than with a red band), and a red moustachial stripe (rather than black). The moustachial stripe indicates it is a male. Intergrades between the red- and yellow-shafted are common and widespread, and can seemingly combine any combination of features. Check the flickers you see carefully and you may well see one with some of the features of the yellow-shafted form.