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Nature in it's glory

Nature in it's glory

Mar 15, 2012

Woodpecker close encounter

      The first birds I saw today were Bohemian Waxwings in the hundreds adorning every tree top.  They are gathering for their migration north, and were too far for decent photos.  But then I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye.  When I went to investigate, I came upon this Pileated male woodpecker on the forest floor.  He was busy excavating a fallen log.

Male Pileated woodpecker
He spots me
Contemplating his next move
He takes a second look
                            Turns out he is not at all shy.  He looked at me, then looked again and clearly discounted me as a threat. 

This looks interesting
                                               Here he is ignoring me.

Here he is above me later
In fact, even though I made no attempt to hide and was anything but quiet as I walked slowly through the forest, I was so unthreatening, that ten minutes later he landed right above me on a tree.  He pounded away at the bark quite some time, totally unconcerned by my presence, before he meandered off.  Slowly moving from tree to tree, but just far enough out of sight that I could get no more clear shots.

Enjoy,
Susan






2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful experience this must have been Susan. I just love it when my subjects are comfortable with my presence and allow me time to learn more about them.

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  2. Oh Susan, how lucky you are! We have Pileated Woodpeckers living at the back of our property but they are so very elusive. I have yet to get a good shot of these fascinating birds. Your photographs are fantastic! What a great experience to be able to get so close. Awesome!

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