Pileated Woodpecker Female With Hungry Chicks

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. The adult female had just returned to feed the chicks. She regurgitates food into their open beacks, the scene is rather frantic with them wanting more and more. There is a third chick inside the nest cavity that can just slightly be seen by a path of white in the shadow. These two are definitely the dominant chicks. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 400mm
1/2000 F/8 Matrix Metering EV +1/3 ISO 800 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop CC 2018 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. I also have worked up the image as a vertical but I like this better.

[arash_hazeghi]

love to see the chicks, everything is perfect except for I wish you had a more interesting non sky BG but nothing you could do about that at this location,

TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Joe, excellent interaction between parent and chicks, and everything nice and sharp. Blacks well exposed on mom, and agree, not much we can do with a sky BG, if thats all there is.

[John Mack]

Love the chicks hanging out of the tree. Nice pose on all the birds. Details look good.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat nest on the palm trunk. A bit steep, but looking good nonetheless. I realize you worked it up as a vertical, but did you take in-camera verticals with more room above as well?

[Arthur Morris]

Well done in bright light with a fairly steep angle.

with love, a