Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Latest above, June 2008 from Clute, TX. The consensus between Gil and Christina seems to be this is probably a young adult male molting into adult plumage. Nikon D200 and 300mm f4 ED lens with a monopod in difficult lighting. Don't miss the Big Woodpecker.
4/6/2008: The Cedar Waxwings were in the yaupon trees the other day, but they fled to the top tree branches when I appeared with my camera. I used the Nikon 300/f4 lens. These guys were ~20 feet high in the pine trees.
Cedar Waxwing Pair
3/1/2008: Scroll down for the latest goldfinch additions.
1/19/2008: I grabbed the new Nikon 300mm ED f4 lens when I saw a some bird activity in the back yard on a nice Saturday morning and snapped off about 120 images. Here are a few that turned out OK. I like the lens! There's just the smallest trace of chromatic aberration ("purple fringing") when the conditions are brutal. Thanks again to Gil for all the bird (& tree) ID help!
Adult male American goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) in winter plumage, on a sweetgum tree (Liquidamber styraciflua), like the other goldfinch picture later on this page,
This is the first time I've seen or identified a Downy woodpecker. Not the greatest shot, but the best one of the bunch so far.
I have a better woodpecker picture here. These guys are amazing in their ability to climb up the underside of a branch. This guy is poking into the loose bark on the pine tree, looking for a tasty snack... Photo Notes: Shooting against the bright sky like this is very challenging for the optics. The 300 f4 did very will, but there is still a trace of edge coloration. The bird's fine feathers seem to have introduced some sort of issue causing blue, also. Not sure if that's feathers doing optical tricks or what.
...on a sweetgum tree (Liquidamber styraciflua) in The Woodlands.
I figured male and female, and Gil and Christina were kind enough to confirm. Gil says: These are breeding-plumaged American goldfinches, Carduelis tristis, the female on the left, male on the right. Christina says: Yes, American Goldfinch. As usual with birds, the male is the more colorful--on the right. With his bright yellow head and jet black forehead--breeding plumage. She is more colorful than usual--a wash of yellow instead of overall gray. Pink breeding beaks. The better to kiss with, I guess.
Christina: Male. I used to get them at my feeders in Georgetown (Near Austin, TX -RL). Nice shot. Gil: Male House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus.
The goldfinch seems to defy gravity, comfortably eating upside-down.
Titmouse checking for Spiders, moths, or anything else caught in the web that might be tasty!
Back to The Woodlands Back yard. Excuse the poor photo, but I had never seen birds do this before and I wanted to document the behavior. This little guy above was hinging upside-down, sticking it's head up under the overhang there. Gil E. was kind enough to explain this to me: "Your photo is of a Tufted titmouse. It is doing what my Oak titmice and Bewick's wrens regularly do at my house in Sacramento. It has learned that spiders build their webs in protected sites underneath eaves, so it is checking not only for spiders, but for moths that may have been caught in the spiders' webs. Gil"
Thanks for that insight Gil!
More Bird pictues at this link: Brazos Bend 2007 trip (White Ibis, Little Blue Heron, Common Morhens, American Coots, Blackbellied Whistling Ducks, Red Earred Sliders (turtles)
You should check out the Hummingbird and the Big Woodpecker page, too, along with my "Main" Bird Picture Page
Copyright © 2008 Dick Locke. All Rights Reserved.
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