Woody woodpecker anyone...

I grew up watching Wood woodpecker cartoons and always enjoyed seeing woodpeckers around the yard. Out here in CT we have a couple of species, our largest is the Pileated Woddpecker,Hylatomus pileatus Its a crow sized woodpecker. We hear them drumming on the trees more than see them. They tend to be secretive. I have a pair that nests somewhere in our area and we often see them off in the distance. I have never gotten a decent photo as a result. The other day I was out in the yard and heard a drumming in the nearby woods. The leaves had not yet opened and there he was not more than 30 yards away. I ran in and grabbed the camera... got a bunch of nice pics.


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Anyhow, truly a cool bird. Hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I enjoyed watching it.
al

Beautiful shots, Al. Really like the pose in picture 3.

The woodpeckers here in Phoenix love hammering away at the metal vents on top of houses.

Thanks Adam, Im happy with them. Our smaller woodpeckers like the woodsiding here.. they go after the carpenter bees larvae so we get a double whammy. I did find a way to get them to stop though...bribery. They much prefer a suet feeder to working for their meals.

al

The first pic is the one that really blew me away. Everything was grey and suddenly there this red hot red on the head of a big grey bird. You should be able to sell that image to some bird magazine if any thing like that exists these.

There was a Pileated drumming on an old oak the next door neighbor had when I was living on the Alabama gulf coast. That neighbor actually killed that fine old oak in hopes of the pair nesting in it the following year. The pair came back the next year and tried out the old oak that was killed just for them but decided to nest somewhere else.

Lovely shots Al. I also grew up watching woody woodpecker. I've never had a chance to see a woodpecker in the wild and was wondering how loud and far the sound travels when they are pecking away?

Thanks Liz! They can be pretty cool to watch.I wish I could find their nest here so I get some more pics.Really a beautiful bird.

Hey Joe,
Thanks for the comments! Glad to hear you watched woodywoodpecker too! Sat morning cartoons were the best thing to lookforward to when I was a kid.

The woodpecker drumming can be heard over a mile away depending on the tree and time of year. They have a pretty unique call as well.
You can hear both the call and drumming at this awesome bird site...
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/...dpecker/sounds

al

Those the definitely some nice photos you have Al. :) I have photographed these guys before but generally has been with sun/shade conditions with lots of junk in the way. So nice you caught it out in the open. :D
Pat

Nice set All. I've only ever seen a woodpecker once and I got a pic of it on the fly. I was so proud of the shot. I'd have to go digging for it

wow what a beautiful bird we have a couple here in Georgia that visit our feeders every day. And the humming birds are arriving. What a joy to watch.

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Gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker

Yep i also grew up on woody woodpecker

We have the red headed woodpecker here around me. I love seeing them. For years they seemed to have been gone but the last 5-8 years they've come back.

This was my consolation prize when I went to Oscar Sherer State Park in hopes of seeing a Florida Scrub Jay. I saw them in my next door neighbor’s tree a couple weeks ago, but not ever close enough to see their eyes like this. Great shots Al.
Patty

Thanks everyone! They are a really cool bird. I have a dying spruce in my front yard that is riddled with ants and beetle grubs. I have been telling myself that I need to cut it down for the last few years. I'm glad I didn't as my Friend or its Dopple ganger returned to my yard for the buffet. Hes been at it a few days now. I snuck out and got a few pics before it caught on to me. Hard not to see me standing out in the open I guess. Drizzling and foggy which make it harder to stop the motion but give the image nice tones even at higher ISOs. Use the same gear as the previous set, K3 with 400 mm F5.6 lens.

Hoping to have some more photo shoots, I may set up a makeshift blind or tent and some Flash,, I would love to capture the wood flying in all directions. Thats a bit ambitious but hey worth a try,


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al

These are great Al and I think the blind sounds like an awesome idea :)
Pat