THE PILEATED

Female Pileated Woodpecker, April 2020

It doesn’t happen very often but this week I didn’t press the shutter release button of the camera at all so far. Another project took most of my attention and time but hopefully this will change during the weekend. This photo of a female Pileated Woodpecker at the bottom of a dead oak tree was made about a year ago. This week I heard their calls every day and saw two Pileateds in the woods behind the house. It is the only woodpecker that has not visited our suet feeders in all the years we live here. This crow-size bird is actually present all year long but it is rare that I have one in front of the lens. April is still a good month because without the leaves we still have a clear view between the trees. I’ll keep trying…

NATURE CLICKS #452 - BALTIMORE ORIOLE ♀️

Oh boy, how much I love these sunny early mornings in May! The temperature is pleasant and the quality of light is awesome. We put some orange halves out and this attracts the orioles and other birds. The goal is of course to make the click while the birds carefully approach the food source. This young oak right in front of our porch is a perfect target to focus on. The food is between 6 -10 feet away and many birds use it as an observation point before they approach the feeders or for waiting in line while others, mostly bigger birds, take their turn.

The Baltimore Oriole is a great looking bird with wonderful sounding calls. Sure, they can chatter as well, but waking up in the morning to the sound of their calls is one of the best delights in spring…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,   @ 600 mm (DX mode 900 mm), f/6.3, 1/2000 s, ISO400,

NATURE CLICKS #444 - PILEATED WOODPECKER

Pileated Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Almost seven years ago we had to cut down the crown of this old oak you see in the picture here. The oak was dying and there was a danger that this mighty tree could fall on the house. However, we decided to leave the trunk standing, as a habitat for the many woodpeckers around here and other critters. Today came the final proof that this was a good decision, when this female Pileated Woodpecker landed on the trunk after she had worked already on a couple other places.

The Pileated Woodpecker is here all year long but we still don’t see them very often. Most of the time we can hear their loud calls and see big cavities they carve out at some of the dead trees in our woods. It is the only woodpecker that we have never seen on a suet feeder so far. I guess you can understand my excitement when I discovered this large woodpecker in “killer-morning-light”.

ICY, ICY…

Winter holds us in its claws but every day is a little different than the one before. Yesterday we had some icy rain and most of the oaks around here were still covered with a glass-like ice layer today. This afternoon I stepped outside for a couple minutes and exposed myself to the cold wind. The low sun made the branches shining like silver and this was of course my subject for this artsy-fartsy picture.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR, @70mm, 1/100s, f/29, ISO100