Hairy Woodpecker - Pic chevelu
Another surprise moment that I was able to react to, after half-heartedly tracking this Woodpecker through the woods while looking for something else. I watched and heard it a few metres off the trail, but I was really trying to track a couple of Kinglets.
As I stopped to try to locate them, the Woodpecker began drilling up the trunk and then out on the limb he is on here. I let go of my attachment to the elusive Kinglets and watched this bird hammering the branch and peeling away dead bark. He was at about shoulder height for me. I backed up as it came toward me along the branch, and then it suddenly seemed to change plans: it scanned nearby options, oblivious to or unconcerned by me, and then flew off across the trail.
I liked this image because it conveys some of the amped up intensity of this species, compared to the less substantial Downy. The resident Woodpecker species all seem to hit that breeding behaviour switch at the same time, and they are more visible and more assertive/aggressive. And it was nice to have it in the sun and somewhat still for a couple of seconds.
Hairy Woodpecker - Pic chevelu
Another surprise moment that I was able to react to, after half-heartedly tracking this Woodpecker through the woods while looking for something else. I watched and heard it a few metres off the trail, but I was really trying to track a couple of Kinglets.
As I stopped to try to locate them, the Woodpecker began drilling up the trunk and then out on the limb he is on here. I let go of my attachment to the elusive Kinglets and watched this bird hammering the branch and peeling away dead bark. He was at about shoulder height for me. I backed up as it came toward me along the branch, and then it suddenly seemed to change plans: it scanned nearby options, oblivious to or unconcerned by me, and then flew off across the trail.
I liked this image because it conveys some of the amped up intensity of this species, compared to the less substantial Downy. The resident Woodpecker species all seem to hit that breeding behaviour switch at the same time, and they are more visible and more assertive/aggressive. And it was nice to have it in the sun and somewhat still for a couple of seconds.