Pileated Woodpeckers chicks being fed

[Jerry Barrack]

Sony a9 with 200-600mm G OSS lens with 1.4x telextender at 840mm, F9, ISO 1600, 1/2500sec. Manual exposure. Shot on 4/23/20 at 10:22am on a bright cloudy morning.

I had been following these Pileated Woodpeckers since mid January when they were spotted in this area. The nest was in a perfect area for photographing and I spent many mornings from Mid January to the end of April when the two chicks fledged. I am hoping that they come back next year so I can do a repeat. I love the bark on the tree also.

[Randy Stout]

Jerry:

I like the two chicks poking out of the nest hole for lunch, open bills, mom delivering chow to one, very interesting trunk, nice display of the prop tail.

I would try to tease about more out of the darks on the adult, esp the tail and underside, which the light angle really shaded. Ideally it would have been nice if the adults head was turned more our way for a better view.

It has been my experience in Michigan that they don't use the same nest hole two years in a row. Sometimes the same tree, but even that is uncommon here.

Hope to see more from outings with them.

Cheers

Randy

[Bill Dix]

Love the looks on the two eager chicks, and the nicely patterned trunk. I do wish for a head turn from the adult, and some detail in the blacks. But you certainly caught the interaction nicely.

[David Roach]

Love the interaction, love the bark and the framing. Maybe less contrast or raise the shadows as has been suggested. Sounds like loads of fun stalking such a nicely placed nest. TFS Would love to see more...

[gail bisson]

The interaction is nice.
Great tree and I too love the bark/pattern.
Looks like the light was quite strong when you took this image and it has cast some pretty heavy shadows in the blacks.
I don't think you can get much detail out of the blacks without introducing a lot of noise.
I do wish the adults' eye could be seen.
Gail

[Jerry Barrack]

Thanks for the comments. I have one with the adult head turned more but there is not quite the same action. What do you think?

[John Mack]

The interaction is nice. Agree with the others here.