The closing of January always brings at least a little snow to my mountain. The cold sleeping forest has very little forage for the birds and so I’ve set a buffet of suet and meal worms to compliment the main feeder of seeds. As I prepared my last supply run into town I heard the woodpeckers just inside the trees. I’m certain that if anyone happened by my yard they’d think I’d lost my ever loving mind but I talk back to the wildlife. The woodpecker makes his laugh and I stopped what was doing with my hands on my hips and look up into the mountain. At the top of my voice I replied “what do you want?”
The woodpecker laughs again.
“Woodpecker food!” I replied.
More calls from the woodpecker.
“Okay, but if I get you special food then you’ve got to pose for me. ”
At this point I have the mental image of my nearest neighbor overhearing this conversation with a woodpecker and questioning her recent move to West Virginia but I continue to talk to him. Later that same night I stepped out and had a conversation with the screech owl that was making my dog bark after midnight and I knew that she was questioning the move. Especially since I was outside making territorial calls in an effort to encourage the owl to give a Hoot about the property boundaries.
I’ve never been able to get a good photo of them but the woodpeckers on my place are at least a few Pileated Woodpeckers, common flickers, possibly a few red bellied woodpeckers and the one in tonight’s Feature Image is a Downy Woodpecker. All make distinctive calls and so it’s possible to know who’s who when they get vocal.
The downy woodpecker is the only one to accept the feeder so far. It spends most of the day just bouncing between feeders and then zooming off to store a little somewhere in the trees. I’m amazed at how fast it moves and was only able to catch the hop between feeders in burst mode.
Birding is a bit of a new hobby for me and so I’ve got a lot to learn when it comes to their behaviors. The large Pileated Woodpeckers are the ones I really want to capture in my lens but so far they really remain shy and illusive in spite of the calls they make while I’m outside. For now I’m just shooting the photos through my office window but hopefully I’ll be able to get a little closer soon. The chickadees have already started to be acclimated to me and the song sparrows occasionally land on the sill and peek in while I’m working.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.
Announcement:
I am adding additional social media to my network. Eventually, I’ll be leaving Facebook behind for a multitude of reasons. Even though the Lloyd’s Lens Photography page is strictly non-political I have been restricted from interacting with followers with no explanation for why. But it’s not just that. For years now Facebook has throttled content providers in general. They encourage us to grow our audience and then want to sell us back the access to them. In addition, they collect and sell the data from our interaction. So Facebook has become an entanglement of thorns. In response I have created the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe. We can still interact directly on the blog but starting today I’ll be looking for more platforms that respect the privacy of my followers and don’t limit who gets to see the post.
I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup
Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!
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