Northern Flicker

My first post on the Bird Forum. I am fairly new to trying this birding thing out, and am really enjoying doing it. This fellow was in some thick aspen growths and getting near him took quite a while before he settled down and let me get close enough for a shot, and even at that it was through a jumble of branches. Great fun!!

Welcome to the Bird Forum Jim . You picked a very difficult subject to start with. Flickers are notoriously skitish at the best of times but a beautiful bird. I prefer the second image..nice ruffled feathers and pose. The light is tough and under these conditions a little flash for fill would make the bird stand out. Be careful as this type of photography can be very addictive

I agree with Gary, you picked a difficult bird. But you did well, the flicker looks really good in #2

Gary & Bea, thanks for the kind comments.

Does using a flash with birds frighten them at all? Flash fill was what I thought would have helped too.

And you are right, bird photography is addicting for sure. My friends are labeling me a "Bird Geek" after only a few outings.
I do love the thrill of the hunt.

Jim welcome to the forum. Nice shots. I saw my first Flicker last week but he was too far off for me to get any kind of a decent pic.

Thanks Bill. I have lurked in the Bird Forum and really like lots of what I see. Something to strive for. Well that, and affording a real long prime lens.

Those are great shots. And this guy has a red mustache. The ones I've seen down here are black. Wonder if that's a breeding plumage change?

Thanks Mitch, Sibley's lists 2 sub species, the Red-shafted and the Yellow-shafted. the later having the black malar (mustache) and brown face. The underside of the wings on the R-S are reddish and on the Y-S yellow (go figure ).

See, I am already learning more about birds in the last couple weeks than I did in the previous 49+ years, never to old to learn.

Very good shots. The second one is my favorite.

A couple of nice photos. You got good detail even with the low contrasting light.

Very nice works Jim! Welcome to the world of birds, addictive, frustrating, and can get very costly.

jorj7 wrote in post #3105028
A couple of nice photos. You got good detail even with the low contrasting light.

Thanks George

ZipDude66 wrote in post #3105062
Very nice works Jim! Welcome to the world of birds, addictive, frustrating, and can get very costly.

Thanks Zip, you are so right about the effects of this part of the hobby, though the costly part has already hit in a bit way, but man, those big lenses, they sure are pricy.

Hi Jim!
Welcome to the Bird forum!
Those are beautiful shots!!! Very nice!
I better do lots of practicing before our meet in June!

Elfie

elfieh wrote in post #3105890
Hi Jim!
Welcome to the Bird forum!
Those are beautiful shots!!! Very nice!
I better do lots of practicing before our meet in June!

Elfie

Thanks Elfie,
I can only hope to get some great shots like you have. After only a couple outings, I sure have got the bug.