Northern Flicker (Hard at Work)

I was out today visiting one of my favorite turtle hotspots (see images in Nature section) and caught this Flicker hard at work. He let me take a bunch of photos. Its just too bad it was under a harsh, bright mid-day sun.

Anyway, I thought I would post a few of the images. C&C (positive or negative) is always welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Very nice Ed, another species on my too get list.

Very nice! From what I've seen in the Wetlands, the males are quite involved in the nest building/caring for the eggs or young thing.
Karen

Nice shot of one of our most beautiful woodpeckers. I find these very skittish, common as they are. Great to see her in action. I think the lighting looks pretty good.

Nice series Ed Looks like nest building time

Trevor, Karen, Bob and Gary,

Thanks for the comments and compliments. Yes they are skittish. Over the past week or two, I've had many Flickers take off at the mere sight of me in the general neighborhood. I swear they would see me way before I saw them. Fortunately, this fella had to much work to do and couldn't be bothered by the crazy guy with the camera.

I do believe this is a male with the black moustach.

As I think I said, I shot these handheld with my 70-300 as I was looking for turtles to photograph.

I think the difference Bob was that while the light was harsh, I handled it better. I guess I am really learning something along the way. So thanks for the C&C and thanks for being teachers.

And while this isn't a great shot (it was way too far off for the 70-300), I thought I would share a photo of the female Flickers (no moustaches) frolicing the afternoon away while the guys are out busting their butts.

Now they have the right idea!
Karen

EdV wrote in post #3087172
Trevor, Karen, Bob and Gary,


I do believe this is a male with the black moustach.

I think the difference Bob was that while the light was harsh, I handled it better. I guess I am really learning something along the way. So thanks for the C&C and thanks for being teachers.

Oh yeah, duh! I was thinking of the Red-bellied with more red on its head. You are correct! Yes, you handled the light well. You should see the first year of my photographs. I didn't even know what exposure compensation was! Guess I should have read more and shot less! That's neat to see the three of them on the branch. They are really active this time of year. I believe I saw two mating the other day...I gave them their space and butted out.

ngannet wrote in post #3087302
Yes, you handled the light well. You should see the first year of my photographs. I didn't even know what exposure compensation was! Guess I should have read more and shot less! That's neat to see the three of them on the branch. They are really active this time of year.

EC was (is) one area that baffled the heck out of me. I could never figure out whether I need to go + or - and how much. What I am doing now is playing around a bit when I can. I am shooting at 0 then + and then - just to compare the differences. And some times when I know I need to go +, I am varying like +2/3 to +1 1/3 just to see the differences. That is helping me a lot. But I am still not real good at it.

And as far a lighting is concerned, I am now finding myself moving around a lot more looking for the best lighting instead of letting my unbridled enthusiasm run wild and immediately start shooting when I see a bird I want to photograph.

Again, thanks for the encouragement and support. I appreciate it.

They are nice looking birds aren't they? I don't generally get to see them in trees though, they seem to spend a lot of time on the ground around here.

canonloader wrote in post #3087967
They are nice looking birds aren't they? I don't generally get to see them in trees though, they seem to spend a lot of time on the ground around here.

Up until this weekend, I was only seeing them on the ground as well. Suddenly they all moved up into the trees. Must be that time of the year!

is it me or does there seem to be an awful lot of these around this year... im driving around and hear them yapping away all the time. I had on in my yard, he made the nest but now it seems a black bird has took it over, also, doves made a nest and a Robin has claimed it.. i wonder what thats all about?

Ed, wonderful capture. I saw my first this weekend, unfortunately he was too far away for a decent image. Neat bird!

I don't think it's just you. I had never seen one before, now they are everywhere.

wlaramie wrote in post #3088845
Ed, wonderful capture. I saw my first this weekend, unfortunately he was too far away for a decent image. Neat bird!

Thanks Bill. I am glad that you like the images. Your opportunity to get close will come. As I said, I had Flickers flying off left and right for maybe two weeks before I found the guy in the photos. He was off the ground (great), working a nest hole (cool) and only about 10 feet off the ground (yes). It all came together. Same for the Eastern Bluebirds that I posted earlier in the weekend. So keep your eyes open and they will come.

And yes, there does appear to be more Flickers this year that I remember in recent years past.