Yet another bird

hamburger · Apr 9, 2007

I did my bit of bird photography today as well!

Outside my parents' house, a great spotted woodpecker is busy building a home. Hacking away at the poor old apple tree, the little chap has made quite a lot of headway and already manages to semi-disappear inside if he has a mind to.

So this morning you could see me trying to sneak up on him with my camera and zoom lens in hand - but of course, wily old bird that he is, he disappeared as soon as he spotted me. So eventually I created my own hide, driving the car out of the garage, sneaking into the back seat, lowering the window - and snapping away! Those pics weren't that great (my hand wasn't steady enough and I still wasn't close enough) so you won't see any of those pics here. Some time later, the woodpecker allowed my just those two steps closer and, with some heavy cropping, colour work and a certain amount of sharpening and contrasting, the following results emerged.

I know, I know, nothing on lostprophet, but not totally bin fodder either, methinks...

1.

2.

and, just to complete the picture, here's the hole:
3.

LaFoto · Apr 9, 2007

Heya. Far from being bin fodder, my dear!
You should see the one and only photo of a woodpecker I ever took in all my life ... or better not! He is hardly to be seen in mine, anyway...

The twigs in that last photo look funny .... any idea what happened there? But he is a persistent little pecker to have created a hole that big, eh? I only ever HEAR them, but ... like I was saying in Part 1 of my Saga, I have the hardest time SPOTTING the birds...!

lostprophet · Apr 9, 2007

well they are better than the shot I have of a woodpecker and I was in a hide!! http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71402

at least your shots show why its called a woodpecker

hamburger · Apr 21, 2007

lostprophet said:
well they are better than the shot I have of a woodpecker and I was in a hide!! http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71402

at least your shots show why its called a woodpecker

Actually, I think your photo would receive far better marks for technical value - but you're definitely right about the woodpecking!

hamburger · Apr 21, 2007

LaFoto said:
The twigs in that last photo look funny .... any idea what happened there?

But he is a persistent little pecker to have created a hole that big, eh?

By now that hole is so deep that they actually seem to be hatching their eggs in there. Can't see a thing now.

As for the twigs - I did some sharpening to the photo as resolution was poor-ish, and that was an unintended and rather surprising side effect. I just left it as it was as I found it intriguing.

Seefutlung · Apr 21, 2007

hamburger said:
By now that hole is so deep that they actually seem to be hatching their eggs in there. Can't see a thing now.

As for the twigs - I did some sharpening to the photo as resolution was poor-ish, and that was an unintended and rather surprising side effect. I just left it as it was as I found it intriguing.

While intriguing it is a bit distracting as well.

The Woodpecker's ability to nest inside a tree instead of in the branches makes that nest unseen to predators. Most of the pecking you hear is to located grub tunnels under the bark. Once located the pecker chisels a hole and tosses it very very long tongue down the tunnel in search of a snack. Some pecker has tongues nearly as long as their bodies.

I like your bird.

Gary

hamburger · May 28, 2007

Seefutlung said:
The Woodpecker's ability to nest inside a tree instead of in the branches makes that nest unseen to predators. Most of the pecking you hear is to located grub tunnels under the bark. Once located the pecker chisels a hole and tosses it very very long tongue down the tunnel in search of a snack. Some pecker has tongues nearly as long as their bodies.

There must have been quite a brood inside that hole eventually, quite a racket going in there (my mum definitely needs a hearing aid, she never heard them). Now all's gone quiet; either they have flown the nest without anyone noticing or the squirrels/crows/magpies have had a field day...

Seefutlung · May 28, 2007

hamburger said:
There must have been quite a brood inside that hole eventually, quite a racket going in there (my mum definitely needs a hearing aid, she never heard them). Now all's gone quiet; either they have flown the nest without anyone noticing or the squirrels/crows/magpies have had a field day...

Well we'll just assume the best and that the Woodpecker population is expanding in spite of hungry and would be predators. Thanks for the update.

Gary