LittleRed

Day # 17 - Date : Tuesday, October 31, 2017

This is the last of my regular Woodpeckers, the glorius Pileated. The largest and probably my favourite. At the present time I have only 2 that are coming regularly to my feeding stations. But during the early summer it was a real boon year. It appears that it was a very good year for these birds as I had a total of 7 of these beauties gorging themselves on my suet supply. There were two families, one with the parents and 2 fledglings (male and female) and one set of parents with a single female. When both families were in the yard it was a real circus, with scraps going on all over the place. I had to make sure that there were 2 suet feeding stations to try and keep them sort of under control. Most have now moved on leaving only one male and one female. Both these birds appear to be youngsters (this years birds) and not adults. I set up one feeding station right on my deck so that the birds when dining would only be 8 feet away from my location. This made them very approachable so that I could get within 2 or 3 feet of them (no pics as my lens couldn't focus). No attempt was ever made either to touch them or hand feed them, something I think would be careless and wrong. However, if I wasn't quick enough to get the suet in the feeder they would land on the picnic table beside me and eat right out of my container. Feeding 7 of these characters became a bit of an expensive proposition considering a 2Kg bottle of peanut butter costs about $6 and I was going though it in a week. But, it was surely worth it.
One of the many blessings one has as a birder to have the opportunity to interact such as this with one of tHe Lord's most perfect creatures.
Hope you enjoy my pics of this most beautiful bird.

LittleRed (Ron)

Female - Canon T6i, Tamron 150-600mm @420, 1/1250, f7.1, auto ISO @800, dist 11M


Female - Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/640, f4.5, auto ISO @250, dist 3M


Female - Canon T6i, Tamron 150-600mm @250, 1/400, f6.3, auto ISO @125, dist 3M


Male - Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/1000, f4, auto ISO @800, dist 10M


Male - Canon T6i, Tamron 150-600mm @309, 1/1000, f6.3, auto ISO @2500, dist 8M


Male - Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/640, f4, auto ISO @3200, dist 8M

vonzip Loc: cape cod

well done. clear and sharp. you were able to get very close to those guys. that usually makes for the best shots.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Great story and great work ! ......thanks for sharing

rockdog Loc: Berkeley, Ca.

An excellent set of photos! The effort you have put into developing your shooting situation has really paid off. There is no substitute for getting close when it comes to getting sharp. I appreciate your thoughtful narrative.
Phil

Bill_de Loc: US

Like a real showman, you saved the best for last. Beautiful shots!

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rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

You were very lucky to have two breeding pairs in the same area. Pileated Woodpeckers are very territorial and a single breeding pair usually occupies a territory of at least 100 acres. At my little place in the woods, I hear them quite often but rarely ever see them or get the opertunity to photograph them. You got some really nice photos...

LittleRed

Tis true, the closer you get, the sharper the pic. Takes patience and a heck-of-a-lot of suet to get it done. Thanks for looking and the comment.

Ron

LittleRed

My pleasure imagemeister, I really enjoy sharing pics of my friends here on this forum. Thanks for the kind comment.

Ron

LittleRed

Thanks Phil for looking and commenting, tis appreciated. Getting close is the trick for getting very sharp photos. As for the narrative I like to add a bit of info on my birds, but my wife says sometimes I talk too much.

Ron

LittleRed

Yes, this is the last of the Woodpeckers, but I do have a few more of my regulars to post. However, tis getting a bit coolish up here to sit on the deck to get some more pics of the last birds I want to post. So, a few more and I will retire.

Ron

merrytexan Loc: georgia

wow ron...how totally awesome your shots are, and how exciting to be so close to them when you shoot.
enjoyed your narative. obviously you never lack in entertainment when you're out on the deck!

LittleRed

Lucky is an understatement regarding having 2 breeding pairs in the vicinity of my home. I guess the main reason for this fact is that my home backs on large Conservation Area, one created to do flood control in our city. That and as far as I can tell I am the only person whom feeds the birds all year. I have to set up my feeding stations so that they are bear proof (hanging them from overhead wire lines so they cannot be reached). Usually quite a bit of bear sign can be observed in my yard at times but they have only gotten a couple of then over the past few years. This Conversation Area which contains a small lake probably covers a copla hundred acres or so and it would quite easily support the two pairs of Pilleys. If you can hear them, with a little patience and a pile of good suet mix you should be able to entice them into your yard. Thanks for the nice comment, it is appreciated.

Ron

LittleRed

Thanks merrytexan for looking in and for the comment on my shots. Tis true it is never dull here on my deck, especially if your sitting on your arse recuperating from leg surgery. No mobility but so far the birds come to me and I don't (can't) have to chase them. But it is starting to get a bit coolish up here so I don't think I'll be doing much more sitting on the deck this year. Been waiting for the northern birds to start to come in but so far only one has shown up and I've not gotten any good pics of it yet, hopefully tomorrow (American Tree Sparrow). If I do will do at least 3 more posts on this series.

Ron

merrytexan Loc: georgia

i need to get caught up and look at the ones i missed. maybe you can shoot out a window when it gets too cold.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Beautiful shots