Pileated Woodpecker

[Henry Domke]

Walking along the beach at Sanibel yesterday I was surprised when my wife pointed out a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers drilling holes in a palm tree. I'm not used to seeing these birds along the beach; typically I see them in stands of old timber at the Prairie Garden Trust (http://prairiegardentrust.org).

My first shots didn't work well because the birds were in shadow. I came back later in the day and brought along my tripod and felt much better about the light. I regret that I did not have my 1.4X teleconverter. At full frame the bird only fills about ⅓ of the height.

Comments or suggestions are welcome.

Canon 1DX
600 II
f/10
1/1600 sec
ISO 2500
Manual Exposure
Tripod
Processed with Lightroom 5 & Photoshop CC

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Beautiful capture, Henry. This is a nemesis bird for me, but it's great to see them and how well you handled the harsh light.




Geoffrey

[Sinca Adrian]

Great shoot!

[Karl Egressy]

Great capture, well framed.

[Diane Miller]

Beautifully sharp, great light, but I wonder if a little more room on both sides and the top would give it a little more breathing room?