Red-bellied Woodpecker

Sugar Land, TX. My backyard. February 12, 2012

D3 ISO 1000. 500/4 with 1.4 x tc. f/5.6 1/800s. +0.3ev. Gitzo Tripod. Sitting openly in my yard. Overcast day.

As I have mentioned before, my yard backs to a Federal Wetlands Reserve. This has always provided an extreme variety of birds coming into my yard. Most are permanent residents, not migrants since our weather on the Upper Texas Coast is mild. For the last several weeks this red-bellied has been coming to my feeder and over the weekend a pileated and downy came to the back edge but not into the yard. (I got some good images of the pileated which I will post)

This past summer, with the drought in Texas, the picture was different. No water in the wetlands brought hundreds of trees to the brink of death. Most lost their leaves by September (this is Texas-leaves fall in November or December). Birds numbers dropped precipitously. We provided water and seeds, fruit, nuts and grubs to supplement their diets. The rain has finally returned to our area and I understand the drought is greatly improved but not resolved. Bird number already seem on the rise and I am grateful to see my friends return.