Focused Downy Woodpecker

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Focused Downy Woodpecker

February 25, 2020 by Mike Powell

Getting an unobstructed shot of small birds is frequently impossible, so I often have to twist, turn, and bend in order to get a clear shot of at least the bird’s head. That certainly was the case with this focused male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

If you look closely at the web of branches that surround and frame this woodpecker, you may notice that they are at varying degrees of sharpness, with some of them closer to the bird and some closer to me. My task was to find a visual tunnel through the branches that would somehow make them as undistracting as possible, even when they run right across the body of the main subject. Of course, the challenge is even greater with a subject like a Down Woodpecker that is hyperactive and in almost constant motion.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Canon 50D, Downy Woodpecker, male Downy Woodpecker, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Picoides pubescens, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 15 Comments

15 Responses

on February 25, 2020 at 7:38 am | Reply PaperKutzs

Great photo I have a downy woodpecker that love my suet feeder
- on February 25, 2020 at 5:44 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I love seeing downy woodpeckers.
on February 25, 2020 at 8:16 am | Reply joyroses13

Looks so fuzzy that I want to hold him. LOL! Great picture!
- on February 25, 2020 at 5:41 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. It was a pretty cold morning and I believe that a number of birds, including this one, had fluffed up their feathers in an attempt to keep warm.
on February 25, 2020 at 8:49 am | Reply Reed Andariese

Nice Mike! They usually do not sit still for long!
- on February 25, 2020 at 5:40 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Reed. I followed the Downy when he flew to this tree and snapped off a burst of shots. In most of them his head was hidden or blurry. I was happy to have a couple of pretty good ones.
on February 25, 2020 at 1:41 pm | Reply Dan Antion

Excellent work, Mike.
- on February 25, 2020 at 5:38 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Dan. You have seen enough of my eagle postings to know how excited that I am to be able to capture images like this one.
on February 25, 2020 at 3:02 pm | Reply Helen Cherry

How lovely Mike
- on February 25, 2020 at 5:37 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Helen. This is the smallest woodpecker in my area, but probably my favorite one.
on February 25, 2020 at 4:08 pm | Reply Laura Denise

Only when my back hurts do I know I’m doing photography right! It’s a sport, I tell you! 😀 I’m usually a sight to behold in my neighborhood… Great shot! I have yet to capture our neighborhood woodpeckers! It is definitely a challenge! (Of course, I usually have a Labraheeler with me.)
- on February 25, 2020 at 5:43 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I dogsit for a couple of my friends from time to time and can’t imagine trying to take photos with one of them in tow. Actually I think that I am the one in tow, since both of them tend to pull me along a bit.
on February 26, 2020 at 4:54 pm | Reply nliakos

He looks extremely annoyed. I wonder what at.
- on February 26, 2020 at 5:27 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Hopefully he was not annoyed at me. Woodpeckers always seem to be so intense–maybe you need to be in order to repeatedly slam you head against a tree trunk.
  - on February 26, 2020 at 7:42 pm nliakos
    
    LOL, definitely!