CBC Woodpecker marathon!

[gymell]

Today was my local Christmas bird count. I decided to stay in my back yard and count birds there. I ended up with 18 species, including all 6 species of woodpeckers possible in my yard. A goal of mine for a while has been to photograph all these woodpeckers in one day. So this morning I sat out in a blind while it was -1F and managed to get all of them! The sapsucker is a big deal because it's so rare this late in the year that it's not even on the CBC checklist. These were all taken this morning.

Downy:
http://www.pbase.com/image/90352742/original.jpg

Hairy:
http://www.pbase.com/image/90352739/original.jpg

Red-bellied:
http://www.pbase.com/gymell/image/90352735/original.jpg

Northern flicker:
http://www.pbase.com/gymell/image/90352738/original.jpg

Yellow-bellied sapsucker:
http://www.pbase.com/gymell/image/90352737/original.jpg

Pileated:
http://www.pbase.com/gymell/image/90352740/original.jpg

Woodpecker wanna-be ;):
http://www.pbase.com/gymell/image/90352741/original.jpg

[bromm]

Liz, this is a fantastic Woody series, I kept picking a new favourite on my way down the list, all are great shots, I'm stuck between the hairy, the flicker and the pileated. Great work!!

[gymell]

Thanks - my project next year is to put up some more natural looking perches so I can get shots off the feeder. Since I was pretty close with the 500mm, I couldn't get the entire pileated woodpecker in the frame, but that's the best shot I've gotten so far in the three years I've lived here.

[nwyman]

Liz - you are so lucky to have all these subjects! I don't know what has happened to my back yard - we've been here a year now, and I've been feeding faithfully, but there is very little activity. I do see nuthatches a few times a day, but the downy activity is way down from last year. Don't even seem to have a lot of finches.

Don't those sapsuckers look like the dirty old birds of the woodpecker family? They have that greasy look.

[Howler-Cat]

Nice backyard you have Liz! Wonderful series and thank you for sharing!

[IraRunyan]

Great series of woodpeckers. I could count on only about 3 varities at my house!

[gymell]

Liz - you are so lucky to have all these subjects! I don't know what has happened to my back yard - we've been here a year now, and I've been feeding faithfully, but there is very little activity. I do see nuthatches a few times a day, but the downy activity is way down from last year. Don't even seem to have a lot of finches.

Don't those sapsuckers look like the dirty old birds of the woodpecker family? They have that greasy look.

Thanks - I was pretty excited to get photos of all of them today. I've seen all 6 in one day before so I challenged myself to photograph all of them. It's taken a while, last winter there didn't seem to be nearly as many. Now I can pretty much look out my window anytime and see 4-6 woodpeckers, a couple of red breasted nuthatches, etc. I have a pretty good environment here with mature trees and I guess the word has finally gotten around to the woodpecker community!

[gymell]

Nice backyard you have Liz! Wonderful series and thank you for sharing!

Thanks - I plan to plant more native plants next year and hopefully add to the yard list.

[gymell]

Great series of woodpeckers. I could count on only about 3 varities at my house!

Thanks - it took a while to build up to 6. I think having the constant supply of suet really makes a difference. I went through 5 packs of suet this last week (each pack has 3 plugs).

[jverran]

ya gotta love the 'hatch,,, my favorite bird! THese are really great shots!! How far away are you from the birds?

[sugarzebra]

Wow Liz, you are blessed to have such an opportunity in your back yard. The detail in the Pileated is amazing, however I think my favourite is the Red Bellied, with such perfect lighting. Excellent work as always.

[HOBO_sm]

Great pictures Liz. I have all of those here but I've never gotten any pic's of the Pileated or the Northern Flicker. I don't have any Pileated's that come to the feeders though.

I make my own suet and the others seem to love it.

[jlcarnagey]

Awesome pictures. I get a flicker and a nuthatch. No downys yet. Does the suet in the log make a better attraction?

[dancinec]

Impressive series of shots, the wood peckers are well represented.

[Anke]

Great series, Liz. How unbelievably lucky to have such wonderful birds in your back yard. I'd love to sit out and watch these guys :D

[kr88]

Love the series! And to get these in your backyard...Wow!! Love that Pileated Woodpecker!! :)

[canonloader]

Great series Liz. All the shots are beautiful, but I'm still amazed you get a Pileated in your yard. :)

BTW, went looking yesterday and only saw two eagles over by the lock and dam at I-90. There are still too many open holes in the river for them to congregate in any one spot. :(

[hTr]

Great Set Liz, The Pileated is now my nemisis bird!!! Here in the south they are called"Indian Hens"

[Paul A]

Gorgeous series Liz, wow, that's cold!!!

[gymell]

ya gotta love the 'hatch,,, my favorite bird! THese are really great shots!! How far away are you from the birds?

Thanks! I enjoy the nuthatches also. There was a point yesterday where there were 6 nuthatches out there - 4 WB and 2 RB. They made such a commotion I though something must be going on, like a hawk or something. I never did see the cause, but they were fun to watch. I love the little red-breasted, they will come right up to me.

I have two log feeders now because the sapsucker is very territorial. think I was about 20 ft away from the one in most of these shots, where I used the 500mm. For the downy, I was too close for the focus distance on the other log, so had to put the extension tube on. I guess that means I was about 10 feet away from that one.

[gymell]

Wow Liz, you are blessed to have such an opportunity in your back yard. The detail in the Pileated is amazing, however I think my favourite is the Red Bellied, with such perfect lighting. Excellent work as always.

Thanks - yes I love watching all of these woodpeckers and feel very fortunate that they visit my yard. I never tire of watching them.

[gymell]

Great pictures Liz. I have all of those here but I've never gotten any pic's of the Pileated or the Northern Flicker. I don't have any Pileated's that come to the feeders though.

I make my own suet and the others seem to love it.

Thanks! It took a while for all of these woodpeckers to start appearing. This is the first year I've seen a flicker or a sapsucker at a feeder. Usually I'll see them once or twice during the summer and that's it for the year. In the springtime all of the others bring their babies to the feeders and it's a lot of fun to watch. I'm lazy and buy my suet at the bird store - no drip peanut butter plugs. And I make sure to keep the suet full at all times, backup is a peanut feeder on the rare occasion that the suet runs out.

[gymell]

Awesome pictures. I get a flicker and a nuthatch. No downys yet. Does the suet in the log make a better attraction?

Thanks! IThe suet log does seem to attract them more and also excludes many non-clinging birds that you probably don't want eating your suet anyway. I have these logs on poles with squirrel baffles, so it works out pretty well. When I moved into the neighborhood I heard pileated woodpeckers before I ever saw them, and put up the logs specifically to attract them. I think it also helps that there are many mature trees around, so I guess to them the log is just another tree.

[gymell]

Impressive series of shots, the wood peckers are well represented.

Thanks, I was excited to get all 6 species in one day!

[gymell]

Great series, Liz. How unbelievably lucky to have such wonderful birds in your back yard. I'd love to sit out and watch these guys :D

Thanks! They are fun to watch, especially in the spring when there are youngsters around and they are just learning the ropes.

[gymell]

Love the series! And to get these in your backyard...Wow!! Love that Pileated Woodpecker!! :)

Thanks, I had a lot of fun and hope to attract more birds next year with native plants and maybe a water feature.

[gymell]

Great series Liz. All the shots are beautiful, but I'm still amazed you get a Pileated in your yard. :)

BTW, went looking yesterday and only saw two eagles over by the lock and dam at I-90. There are still too many open holes in the river for them to congregate in any one spot. :(

Thanks - yes I think it is pretty amazing. I saw two female pileated WPs yesterday, and occasionally see the male. I think because I live in a very wooded suburb, not too far from the Minnesota River (and the wildlife refugue), that helps. Also there is a retirement home just down the block, and they have a lot of land with trees as well as open areas. A little further down is an Isaac Walton society preserve, and a country club which is well-known for its environmental friendliness - one of the few certified by the Audubon Society, I think.

Too bad about the eagles! I'm heading down in a bit to lock and dam #2 on the Mississippi to see if it's worthwhile.

[gymell]

Great Set Liz, The Pileated is now my nemisis bird!!! Here in the south they are called"Indian Hens"

Thanks! Heh, yesterday was the very first time I've gotten a photo of the pileated while I was outside. The other few photos I've gotten have been while I'm hiding inside. They are incredibly skittish!

[gymell]

Gorgeous series Liz, wow, that's cold!!!

Thanks - yeah it's been quite cold here lately! Today we'll be getting up into the 20's and that will feel nice. ;)

[Booswalia]

Wonderful series, Liz. That must be a satisfying feeling to have shot all those in one day. Three of them, I've never even seen before. Nice work.

[skyblue]

what a fantastic idea.....a species count in your garden.....i might try this myself but i dont think you'll see woodpeckers or anything like that......a few sparrows and tits maybe

great pics by the way

[HWP]

Great shots.. You obviously have a very lively yard. And you're very dedicated to sit in a blind at -1deg!! Did your lens fog up when you went back inside?

Nice work!

Henry

[dancad]

It's nice to go out with a goal in mind and accomplishing it! Nice series. :-)

[gymell]

Great shots.. You obviously have a very lively yard. And you're very dedicated to sit in a blind at -1deg!! Did your lens fog up when you went back inside?

Nice work!

Henry

No, I took my bags out there and put the cameras in them. When I brought them back inside, they warmed up slowly and were fine.

[Sindri Skulason]

Great series. The third shot is my favorite here. Very well done indeed. :-)