Exactly 1 year ago I posted my first picture here. I didn't make 365 pictures in 365 days, but it has still been a good exercise. Rather than going back and putting fillers in the many days I missed, I'm just going to continue to post until I reach 365 pictures. I need this at the moment to get me off my duff - I got back from shopping and almost skipped taking a picture today. But I wanted to take something today, so I grabbed my camera and headed to the local park to take pictures of ducks and the couple of geese that live there. While there I went over to some ancient oak trees, to wonder about the acorns stuck in the bark. I'm very glad I did, there were three Acorn Woodpeckers working this tree. Their name is very apt, they hide acorns in the trees.
@vskolnik@billsouth Thanks! It was fun to watch the bird watching me, then keeping his back to me as I tried to move to get a better view. These are huge ancient oaks, and the birds higher up the tree totally ignored me.
My first thought was "great bird shot," the second was "what the heck are those pegs in the holes?" Thanks for the explanation, that's so funny to me. I'm glad you went out to get a photo, you found a fabulous one!
@anwan These trees are in a county park. They recently built a library across the street, and they had to take down one of these huge trees. The divided up the logs, which were more or less hollow, and put them out in the park, hoping that the woodpeckers would store their acorns in the stumps/sections rather than continue to peck at the trees. It didn't work, if the three birds I saw busily working on this live tree is any indication.
Wow, that's a stunning shot of the woodpecker and so awesome that you were able to get the acorn storage facility as a background. I can't help but wonder if the squirrels think the woodpeckers are storing acorns for THEM? LOL
It is even more amazing when viewed large. So much detail in his feathers.
This one is a Fav
@anwan@pasadenarose Thank you both for your complements. I would guess that height does matter, a safety thing. The only thing I've seen using the wood they left around are lizards and the occasional ground squirrel. Tree squirrels are common in out area, but I think the parks people must try to control the population, I haven't noticed them around the park. In any case, judging by the number of trees (at least 10) and the fact all of them show the same amount of acorns, the squirrels aren't making much of a dent.
@bankmann Thanks! I was really pleased with this one, the bird wasn't that high up, so I didn't have to crop too much. Though handholding this long of a focal length has issues all its own.
posted March 26th, 2013
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@anwan These trees are in a county park. They recently built a library across the street, and they had to take down one of these huge trees. The divided up the logs, which were more or less hollow, and put them out in the park, hoping that the woodpeckers would store their acorns in the stumps/sections rather than continue to peck at the trees. It didn't work, if the three birds I saw busily working on this live tree is any indication.
It is even more amazing when viewed large. So much detail in his feathers.
This one is a Fav