A Pileated Woodpecker pecks away at a stump - Canon 7D Mark II
I have been seeing a lot of woodpecker sign this Spring and every once in awhile I spook the Pileated Woodpeckers while walking the dog...there is always two. On this late sunny afternoon in early April, my son happened to notice that we had a visitor on the tree stump in the backyard. I managed to grab the camera and start taking a few photos through the glass window in our backdoor.
Read MoreA Pileated Woodpecker in backlit by mid-day sun.
While walking the dog today I heard the tell-tale "knock...knock...knock" of the Pileated Woodpecker. The Pileated makes a much lower tone than a Red-Bellied or Downy woodpecker makes. I led the dog away and into the house and grabbed the camera.
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Pileated Woodpecker hop - Canon 7DMII | 400MM | F5.6 | 1/1000 | ISO 400
While drinking my morning coffee on a mild Saturday in January, I happened to notice that the Pileated woodpecker had flown into our backyard and was pecking away on several trees. My luck photographing these birds has been poor at best. Not that I do not get close to them; they have landed five feet from me on several occasions ... just not when I had a camera with me! Every time I intentionally try and photograph this bird, it takes flight before I am within a couple of hundred feet of it. My one success so far basically was because I was screened by thick foliage and there is no such cover in January in upstate New York.
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A Downy Woodpecker in the backyard
I am finally getting around to posting photos from September of various local wildlife. The above photo was taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and Canon EF 100-400 F/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens. Above, a Downy Woodpecker walks up a tree limb in the back yard.
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Pileated Woodpecker in the sunlight
A pair of Pileated woodpeckers has inhabited the woods in our back yard for several years now. As someone who enjoys photographing birds I naturally endeavored to photograph the pair only to be thwarted at every attempt. With camera in hand I would set out after hearing the tell-tail sounds of their pecking only to be frustrated time and time again. I was always unable to get within 50 feet of the birds.
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Downy woodpecker searching for food
Downy woodpecker scaling a dead tree
I took the Canon 7D Mark II and the Canon EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens for a walk a few weeks back. We have a pair of Pileated woodpeckers that live in the neighborhood and I see them frequently when walking my dog, but of course I never have my camera or cannot get very close with the dog. So most weekends I spend some time by myself looking for the Pileated...with no luck to date.
On this day, the sky had turned overcast and the background was gray and muted. I came across this Downy woodpecker and followed him for ten minutes as he flew from tree-to-tree looking for food. At times I was able to get within ten feet and capture some descent candid images.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Downy woodpecker searching for food on a dead tree