Woody the Woodpecker

I saw a cool woodpecker the other day and went running outside in 6 degree weather in my pajamas to get the shot ... I'd been hearing him bang the trees for weeks and finally saw him cruise by the yard in full flight.

Nikon D700 - 70-200VR - 1.7x TC - 320mm - 1/320 @ f/7.1 - ISO 1250

Way to go! I've been wanting to photograph one of these guys for years - so far all I have seen is the little guys.

Now next time get him from the side or the front ;-)

Cheers

James

Way to go! I've been wanting to photograph one of these guys for years - so far all I have seen is the little guys.

 

Now next time get him from the side or the front ;-)

 

Cheers

James

I know! One of my neighbors said he has been trying for 20 years and has only seen one 3 times and never when the camera was handy.

He's clearly in the hood, so I'm hopefull to see him again ... when I walk the woods around the house I see his "work" on lots of trees ...

In this case, private property prevented me from getting all the angles I might have wanted ... but I did get another cool one from behind that captured the crazy head bobs these guys do ...

They show up in the mountains here to feed on the Pine Beetles.

That's sweet! What lens did you shoot that with?

That's sweet! What lens did you shoot that with?

Shot a few years ago with the original Canon Digital Rebel camera and the Canon 100-400 mm L IS lens at 400 mm. There was actually a pair together. The photo above is the male. Here is the female. Same camera and lens. Note that the male has a red mustache, the female does not.

Hmm John, looks like a baited animal shot. LOL Just kidding

OK my back yard, well less than 5 minutes saw 4 of these. Unfortunately it was a balmy -40C with the windchill factor. Note LCD screen on DSLR does not show much at that temperature.

Cheers

Todd