Red-bellied Woodpecker

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured these images last Friday morning at Circle B Bar Reserve. Trusting that the moderators will give me leeway I am posting two images because they show a behaviour some viewers may find interesting. The Red-bellied Woodpecker finds acorns and carries them to a dead tree with cracks in the wood. It places the acorns in the cracks to store them for a future food source and also to hold them in place while opening the shell and eating the contents. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FF)
1/640 F/5.6 Matrix Metering +1 EV ISO 400
Post processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Elements
Cropped about 50%

[Joseph Przybyla]

In this image the woodpecker has placed the acorn in a crack. After this image was captured the bird flew off, maybe to find another acorn.

[Marina Scarr]

This is the type of behavior I love to learn about and capture. The more you learn about your subjects' behaviors, the better your images will be b/c you can better anticipate. Your exposure and details look great. Wish the bird had been facing more toward the viewer, but other than that, bravo.