The Woodpeckers

I was a lucky boy today!  I’ve been playing around with a different camera this week, so today, out came the big lens and into the backyard I went.  The birds were fairly active so I was able to get a lot of the regulars while I was playing with camera settings.  That’s when all the new guys showed up.  The biggest surprise was the Pileated Woodpecker you see here.  They are the largest of the woodpeckers and are very shy, sticking mostly to heavily wooded areas.  I’ve had them visit several times before but never for this long or this close, not to mention being set up to photograph them quite like today!  Even better, it was a pair, although I never got the chance to photograph them together.  This one happens to be the female.  She is a bit larger than the male and shows the red patch on her cheek.  In the slide show you will see a Northern Flicker, also in the woodpecker family.  Again we see them on occasion, usually in winter.  I also had visits from a Red-Bellied Woodpecker and a Downey Woodpecker.  They are the most common around here, although they have been scarce of late.  The Slate Colored Junco is another winter visitor.  I guess this means winter is fast approaching!  I’ve posted lots of images of the White-Breasted Nuthatch, one of my favorites, but today there was also a Red-Breasted Nuthatch.  I’ve caught glimpses of these a few times before, but was never really positive of the ID.  So please click on the image here to see all of my friends from today.  A few new ones and some of the regulars.