Posted by Craig Sullivan on December 24, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Surprise visitor during our cold snap this week. He was so concentrating on his wood pecking that I could approach within about 5 feet. His usually streamlined plumage was all puffed up to keep warm in the subfreezing temps in my yard about 30 mins before sundown. I had to use in-camera flash to get any decent exposure and the flash didn't alarm him. He kept on pecking for insects or grubs.
Posted by dan elster on December 24, 2008 at 11:03 PM
Really sharp! Also cool that you could get so close. If anything it's a bit tight for my taste.
I really feel for smaller species of birds during these cold snaps. They can get desperate pretty quickly when food is scarce or buried under a few inches of snow.
I've never seen one! How lovely. Thanks for the treat.
Posted by Geoff Shapiro on December 25, 2008 at 12:46 AM
Cool (no pun intended) detail you were able to capture on this sapsucker, probably more than I've ever seen in an image of one before. I agree with Dan about the tightness; a little more room would have been nice.
Posted by Cliff Dodge on December 25, 2008 at 1:27 AM
Nice detail, and i agree with the others on the tightness.
Discussion
4 repliesNikon D40x ,70-300mm VR
1/60s f/5.6 at 140.0mm iso400
in-camera flash
I really feel for smaller species of birds during these cold snaps. They can get desperate pretty quickly when food is scarce or buried under a few inches of snow.
nice