Pileated Woodpecker

[Bill Dix]

My wife and I took a walk yesterday afternoon in a patch of woods we don't often visit. I left the tripod and 500 behind, and carried my new 80-400 and D7200. We heard this Pileated Woodpecker drumming and calling in the woods, and after some time saw him fly ahead of us, landing on the ground behind a large tree. I walked as close as I dared, and then stood to watch while leaves flew out from both sides of the tree as he searched for carpenter ants in the leaf litter. It seemed a long time before he took a peek around the left side of the tree, then hopped up onto the right side just for a moment. When he saw me he noisily took off, but not before I was able to fire off a few frames. Made my day, since this is not a species I've gotten many chances at, especially at eye level.

D7200, 80-400 VR @ 390mm, ISO 1250, 1/1600s @ f/6.3 manual, HH.

[Karl Egressy]

Great opportunity and excellent image, Bill.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Great opportunity, lovely image. Thank you for sharing.

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

Nice job taking advantage of the fleeting opportunity! I have never seen one at eye level myself, so really nice to have that angle here.

Well exposed, sharp, sense of depth from bg texture.

Cheers

Randy

[Ed Kelly]

Excellent exposure, and nice POV.

Ed

[Diane Miller]

Beautifully sharp! Excellent image!

[christopher galeski]

very nice,sharp,nice pose and BG.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good job patiently waiting him out. Well balanced comp, good IQ. Light was getting harsh, but dealt with best it could.

[Sandy Witvoet]

What a handsome guy! Beautifully exposed, great POV and detail.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, excellent exposure, especially on the blacks, and I do like the open beak. I like your placement of the woodpecker, and the bark of the tree stands out nicely.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the composition, sharpness, exposure, details and BG. Excellent image Bill!

[Mark Jones]

Hoping I can get a shot of one of these guys here in Ottawa. Great image.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all.