Northern Flicker

Gallery: AvianPosted May 26, 2017202 views6 comments

The Red-shafted variation that we have in the west. I'd been seeing a female coming to drink from our bird bath recently and when I was out with the camera yesterday evening, this male came in to drink from the stream of our water feature. I didn't have the right angle to catch him in the stream, but he posed on an old tree trunk we have fastened to the pump house as a perch.

7Dii, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, hand held, f/8, 1/2500, iso 640, aperture priority, pattern metering, -1/3 EV (set for goldfinches against a dark bg, and I should have boosted it to about +2/3 for this darker bird against the sky). Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped from a horizontal original to a 9.4 MP 45 vertical (nearly full height). Taken at 7:35 PM yesterday evening.

Comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on May 27, 2017 at 5:19 AM

Dennis,
What a great looking bird beautifully captured!
Not to sure that I would leave the right hand wood in as it looks unnatural?

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by David Bogener on May 27, 2017 at 12:35 PM

One of my favorite species. Nice pose and diagonal perch. The stick through the tail is unfortunate.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on May 27, 2017 at 3:50 PM

Seems a bit dark on my screen. Good detail and near frontal portrait. Agree that the stick and the bole would be better in their absence.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on May 28, 2017 at 4:53 PM

Nice view of the major field marks, and excellent sharpness.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on May 29, 2017 at 7:02 PM

Flickers are beautiful birds but difficult to photograph because of their size. There is always a lot going on with respect to color, texture and feather shapes on their bodies which I think makes it really difficult. I think you did a great job here with the diagonal branch and the head and beak following the angle of the branch. That makes it a pleasing composition.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on May 30, 2017 at 7:49 PM

Great detail in this Flicker, Dennis. You had really nice light and a great pose. Not sure what you have to the right, I am wondering how it would look with more of the tree trunk visible. A beautiful image as posted!!!!

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments