He looked at me...

[StuartR]

Beautiful! I almost never get to see woodpeckers - I only hear them...

I had a green woodpecker on my lawn, right outside the kitchen window, a few weeks ago. I guess there must have been some interesting insects there as he stayed for quite a while.

[jaystarter]

Beautiful! I almost never get to see woodpeckers - I only hear them...

Pure luck...while out walking just before the snow hit around here I heard the knock...knock...and slowly crept nearer and nearer to where the sound was coming from...managed to spot him (or her i've no idea) on an old tree. It was fairly cold and I was shivering and couldn't get my fingers to work to adjust my modest point and shoot camera so just set it at auto and hoped the anti shake would compensate. I could have done much better but a couple nearby - dog walking - started to approach and despite my gesturing to please just stay back or hold a minute or so came breezing by with the comment "Oh! were you trying to take some pictures of that bird" as it made it's flight away. I smiled forgivingly while under my breath I was cursing them to ...well...anywhere but near me! I managed about 7 shots in all and luckily that was one that was halfway decent. The others were too blurry or not focussed and nothing in my image editor would rescue them. So I was quite pleased to get that one.

[HansV]

You were very lucky even though that couple managed to chase the bird away!

[stuck]

Yes, to see them 'in the wild' while just out walking is not that common, they are much easier to hear but in winter when they are hungry they will come to bird tables and once they know they can get an easy meal they will come often. My sister sees Great Spotted Woodpeckers regularly on her bird feeders in her back garden.

Ken

[Bigaldoc]

... So I was quite pleased to get that one.

It IS a great picture!

[Hey Jude]

I had a green woodpecker on my lawn, right outside the kitchen window, a few weeks ago. I guess there must have been some interesting insects there as he stayed for quite a while.

I've never seen nor heard of a green woodpecker, but when I was looking for a photograph I happened upon this from India and wondered if Ian had ever seen or photographed them?

White-naped woodpecker

[ChrisGreaves]

...so I took his picture

I thought that you might have been anticipating "and I fell for his charms"

[StuartR]

I've never seen nor heard of a green woodpecker, but when I was looking for a photograph...

Did you look at the photos behind the green woodpecker link in my post?

The White naped woodpecker looks highly amusing.

[Hey Jude]

Yes, I looked at the photos, but only after I had looked at and found the other one; "highly amusing" indeed hehe

[Hey Jude]

Thouoght I'd get in on the act

We have Northern flickers, downy, hairy and red-headed woodpeckers here in Ohio. About a year ago I happened to go out front and caught out of the corner of my eye something sitting atop my porch lamp post. A saw whet owl perched there, so I took a not so great photo with my cellphone, and then got the video camera and gathered the neighbourhood children as I am sure they hadn't seen one before in the "wild." That owl perched there for about 8 hours, then flew off into the tree behind our house. In another thread just before Christmas I posted that the only twittering around here was that I had seen a saw whet owl. I located the photograph on my cellphone and am curious if both owls are the same, but I suppose I'll never know for sure. The only one I had ever seen prior hereto was out walking a nature trail in the Chicago suburbs about 10 years ago. One was perched on the electrical wire and I looked up and announced it was a saw whet owl, because I had seen one at River Trails Nature Center in a cage the day before. It was really neat! When this one perched on my porch, I thought how fortunate that we were able to enjoy it because the next week that porch was all torn off and replaced with new thermal pane windows etc. When we turned the light on he continued to sit there. The owl that I noticed a week or so ago was atop my heron in my yard. It was too dark for photographs and I was thankful I had taken this one--not the best quality, but evidenced his presence.

Saw whet owl porch 2010.jpg

[Goshute]

We have plenty of US Robins in our back yard in the summer (and one in the house - it's the Bride's nickname), but my favorite backyard bird is the seasonal migrating Western Spotted Towhee, as it's very colorful in flight when the yellow in the wings flashes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Towhee" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We also see Western Scrub Jays all summer (the article says they are not migratory, but I never see them in winter):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Scrub_Jay" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And we have quail, a bird species so stupid that they ignored the food we put out for them and walked right by it all summer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambel%27s_Quail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But their topknots are cute.

[Hey Jude]

I've heard that button quail are "stupid" from chicken breeders who have kept them in cages as an alternative to chicken/turkey dinners. Their experience was that the quail repeatedly--non stop--would jump and hit their heads on the top of the cage until their topknots were a bloody mess. I presume they ate the food given them, because they in turn were consumed

[stuckling1]

It's not a bird as such... But he is looking out

Fountians Abbey; Briham Rocks; 025_cr (2).jpg

We saw this fellow out in a country park near us, still got a full head of antlers after the autumn

Stuckling1

[HansV]

Oh deer - this thread has been hijacked...

[Hey Jude]

"buck" he looked at me too

[IanWilson]

I had a green woodpecker on my lawn, right outside the kitchen window, a few weeks ago. I guess there must have been some interesting insects there as he stayed for quite a while.

I've never seen nor heard of a green woodpecker, but when I was looking for a photograph I happened upon this from India and wondered if Ian had ever seen or photographed them?

White-naped woodpecker

I have once seen a woodpecker in India, but it didn't look like those ones. (Best photo I could manage, cropped out of the centre of a larger picture.)

Indian woodpecker.JPG

Ian

[IanWilson]

Yes, I looked at the photos, but only after I had looked at and found the other one; "highly amusing" indeed hehe

Am I missing something here?

Ian

[Hey Jude]

Yes, I looked at the photos, but only after I had looked at and found the other one; "highly amusing" indeed hehe

Am I missing something here?

Ian

I presume he was referencing the white naped woodpecker's kissing and not telling?

[Hey Jude]

I am an avid seeker of great blue herons/egrets/sandhill cranes and found this great photograph which is similar to the white naped woodpeckers....

great.blue.herons.the.kiss.JZ3F8149.f-700.jpg

[IanWilson]

Yes, I looked at the photos, but only after I had looked at and found the other one; "highly amusing" indeed hehe

Am I missing something here?

Ian

I presume he was referencing the white naped woodpecker's kissing and not telling?

Ian