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.
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| Male Pileated woodpecker |
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| He spots me |
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| Contemplating his next move |
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| 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.
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| This looks interesting |
Here he is ignoring me.
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| 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
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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.
ReplyDeleteOh 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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