Red-cockaded Woodpecker Feeding

One of my favorite albeit difficult places to photograph is Withlacoochee State Forest in Central Florida. This summer, I did a bit of wide angle work as the adult woodpeckers were flying in to feed their 2 young. (If you look closely, you can see the cavity.) It wasn't easy getting enough speed on this drizzly day in the canopy and catching the WP in the sky opening, but I feel it came together rather nicely considering the conditions. For me, this image gives the viewer a sense of place and tells a story. More and more, I find myself wanting to go wider to give the viewer and myself a different perspective. GIve it s try folks! It takes some getting used to b/c you really have to change the way you normally see your subjects.

As an aside, this woodpecker is an endangered species. Withlacoochee SF has done an amazing job restoring the species by placing man made nest boxes in trees where they can nest much faster than the 3 to 5 years it takes them to excavate cavities from scratch. These nest boxes contain a metal grid which help to prevent predators from entering the cavities. Withlacoochee SF has done so well with this species that they are able to transfer a number of young birds every year to other parks across the Southeast thereby helping to ensure the future of the species. One of the reasons these woodpeckers are so important is that their nest cavities are used by up to 70 species of birds and mammals.

Canon 1D4, Canon 24-105L @ 75mm
F5, 1/2500th, ISO 1000
Handheld

Thank you all in advance for your thoughtful comments & critiques.

My first thought was to go in a bit closer but you would lose the tree on the right.
The woodpecker is in such nice position and the cavity so visible, I would still go a bit closer.

I love the wide angle view and the provided perspective; it stimulates my imagination and now I know where he lives and I can wonder how he makes a living, where he perches, what trees he drills, and how often he flies back forth to his cavity. I agree with you; a closeup would have been a paragraph, this is a chapter. TFS steve

Your image came together wonderfully. Nice to see the whole environment, it tells a story. Perfect timing to catch the Woodpecker outside the hole/home with a great wing position. Thank you for sharing, Marina.

You make a good point about thinking wider. I like this -- the bird has a great wing position and is nicely placed in an open spot against the sky. I'm torn about two things: One is that the two trees, almost symmetrically placed, feel a little static; but on the other hand they provide an interesting frame, almost like looking through a window. The other is that I might have liked more DOF to make the rear trees sharper; but I understand that you were fighting the light and needed a fast SS.

Marina:

I like the vertical symmetry created by the tree trunks, the perfect framing of the bird in the open spot. Overall I think it does work well, and probably the bigger the better.

It is hard to switch from showing every tiny feather to going to looser framing, but when you do, you obviously need some strong focal points to keep our attention engaged, like you provided.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Marina, very well timed to get the woodpecker in the open between the foliage, and great that we can see the nest. I really like the scale in the image, and those tress grow so straight. I could see a vertical image coming in from both sides to just outside the trees, but I know you would have to have captured it vertically in camera. :w3

Quite a fascinating image, complete with your written word, it has so much impact. Well seen and well executed, Marina. You challenge me to think !