Curiosity

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Curiosity

October 23, 2017 by Mike Powell

A Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) and a Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) seemed to be eyeing each other with intense curiosity this past Friday at Huntley Meadows Park when they both chose to occupy the same tree at the same time.

Redheads have a mysterious attraction, it seems, in the bird world as well as in the human world.

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Belted Kingfisher, Canon 50D, female Belted Kingfisher, Huntley Meadows Park, Megaceryle alcyon, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on October 23, 2017 at 6:47 am | Reply exploringcolour

That’s a real great “capturing the moment” photo! How delightful!
- on October 24, 2017 at 7:00 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Liz. I love see interactions between species, though I must confess that I usually impute human motives on the creatures involved.
on October 23, 2017 at 9:10 am | Reply takomadonna

Amazing photo! How lucky you were to see this!
- on October 24, 2017 at 6:59 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I was amazed to see this incident and definitely lucky to see it happen.
on October 23, 2017 at 9:34 am | Reply caleephotography

Wow, what a super shot Mike! Well done!
- on October 24, 2017 at 6:58 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Camilla. I was initially focused on the kingfisher when I saw the woodpecker start to creep into the frame. I was fortunate they were both in the same tree so that I could get them both more or less in focus.
on October 23, 2017 at 10:14 am | Reply Anne Williams

Wow! Cool shot!
- on October 24, 2017 at 6:57 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Anne. It was really cool to witness it in person and to capture the interaction in a photo that I could share.
on October 23, 2017 at 4:21 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

Great behaviour shot, Mike!
- on October 24, 2017 at 6:56 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Chris. This was an unusual case when I zoomed out to include more of the scene instead of zooming in as I almost always do. I am always fascinated by the interactions between species, although it’s not always easy to correctly understand what is going on when they do interact.
on October 23, 2017 at 5:23 pm | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Nice shot! Kingfishers are hard birds to get good shots of in my area.
- on October 24, 2017 at 6:55 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Allen. They generally are tough for me too, but today’s posting includes some shots from a lucky occasion this past weekend when a kingfisher was more cooperative than normal.
on October 24, 2017 at 7:50 am | Reply nliakos

What an unusual shot! I don’t think I’ve seen many images of 2 birds of different species (other than at feeders), and these two really do seem to be eyeing each other.
on December 13, 2017 at 1:02 am | Reply Five Eyes [series]: Mike Powell – Exploring Colour

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