Had an opportunity to photograph a northern flicker nest for a couple of weeks until the chicks were lost shortly after hatching. These woodpeckers are the most elusive birds I have ever encountered in terms of their nesting habits. They are actually monogamous and mate for life. Both birds incubate, but in this case there was no continuous incubation, and the pair spent most of their time flying in and out of various cavities and chasing each other. We had no idea there were any eggs in this cavity until the adults appeared with a fecal sac one day.
The nest was far away and there was water between the nest and me. For these landing shots, I focused on the nest, then sprayed and prayed.
Interesting side note: there are over 100 nicknames for flickers. Who knew? They are Alabama's state bird where they are referred to as Yellowhammers, and the state as The Yellowhammer State.
Canon 1D4, Canon 500L & 1.4 @ 700mm
F8, 1/2500sec, ISO 800, manual mode
Feisol tripod, Jobu head
Thank you in advance for your thoughtful comments and critiques.
Last edited by Marina Scarr; 07-01-2016 at 08:49 PM.
You did pretty well for a spray and pray shot! And thanks for the education on Flickers. I like the composition, with the bird low in the frame, the nest cavity slightly higher, and the vegetation off to the right. Good sharpness throughout. I might consider brightening the bird a little.
Excellent image Marina! I like the wing position, fanned tail, sharpness and composition. I appreciate the information you provided with this image, TFS.
Very interesting info on the Flicker's nesting and funny about the many names for them. Thanks for that.
The shot looks great and I really like the pose as he comes in for a landing. Perfect comp and nice details and I like the green on the right.
I also find the bird a bit dark so I tried selectively lightening it a bit, 2/3 of a stop. I think it has a bit more pop. What do you think?
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I really liked what you've done, David. I tried lightening the underwings by burning them but I guess it wasn't enough. This works well and now I have the task of going back and reworking the image!
Love the wing position, the complex image design, and David's repost. While you are re-doing it note that a Contrast Mask on the face and/or some Eye Doctor work would help.
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Incoming Male Northern Flicker (Yellow-Shafted)
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