[Leica] IMG: Wednesday Woodpeckers

[Philippe]

Great views Doug. Colour and sharpness are tops. With superb OoF areas too.

Now, I knew you could crawl, but from the angles these were shot, I’m left wondering if you also climb up trees, or can fly …  How high were the nests? TIA

Amities

Philippe



> Le 22 avr. 2020 à 05:57, Douglas Herr via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> a écrit :
> 
> a tale of two species...
> 
> the players: Nuttall's Woodpecker pair
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut06.html
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut08.html
> 
> female Acorn Woodpecker
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor12.html
> 
> the scene: a dead cottonwood tree, Sacramento County California
> 
> The Nuttall's pair has been working for several days excavating a nest cavity in a dead Cottonwood tree
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut09.html
> 
> When I arrived on the morning of 19 April 2020 I saw the male Nuttall's remove something from the cavity that looked like an egg, then resume work on the cavity. Weird, I thought, let's keep watching.
> 
> In the days since I first observed the Nuttall's pair working on the cavity, a colony of Acorn Woodpeckers moved in nearby. A female Acorn Woodpecker seemed unusually interested in the Nuttall's cavity
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor13.html
> 
> at this point the male Nuttall's raised the alarm
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/dryobates/nuttallii/drynut10.html
> 
> Apparently Acorn Woodpeckers don't share nest trees. I also observed the female Acorn repeatedly use her face-chisel to try to stab the female Nuttall's who was inside the cavity.
> 
> I'm guessing the Acorn Woodpecker left an egg in the Nuttall's nest cavity for the Nuttall's to hatch & raise, Mr. Nuttall's discovered the ruse and removed the Acorn Woodpecker egg sending Ms. Acorn into a tizzy.
> 
> Meanwhile in another part of the woods a male Acorn Woodpecker was making another nest cavity
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor10.html
> 
> it's always the guys who take out the trash
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/melanerpes/formicivorus/melfor09.html
> 
> all: Sony a7rIII, 600mm f/3 GM, big tripod.  Some with 1.4x TC.
> 
> All comments welcome.
> 
> 
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> 
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