Red-breasted Sapsucker drumming

[D Mellinger]

There's a Red-breasted Sapsucker drumming near my house in Corvallis, making its gradually-slowing series of taps on a hollow tree. But this one's different. Previous ones I've heard do a flurry of quick taps followed by 6-12 decelerando taps (or double-taps): 

T-t-t-t-tap-tap..tap...tap.....tap...........tap...........tap...........tap...........tap. 

This bird does that, except at the end it doesn't stop - the taps continue at a slow pace for up to ~20 seconds, with maybe 30-40 total taps (this is a guess, as I didn't count them). 

This style is new to me. Is it a common R-B Sapsucker thing? 

Also-- do females drum at this time of year or is it just males?

Thanks,

Dave