Fledging Acorn Woodpeckers

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1

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Pertinent technical details or techniques:

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In May, saw woodpeckers coming and going from a nest hole in an oak on our property. By late June it was obvious they were feeding young and a few days later I saw a youngster poke its head out. It was in an overhanging branch quite high in the tree but the tree was growing from a creek bottom and I had a somewhat less steep view from a slope above the creek bed. The nest was about 60 ft away and still at an awkwardly steep angle – it was not possible to get closer so I set up my large tripod with a Wimberley head and mounted the Canon 600 f/4 + 2X . The hole was in the shade almost all day so I used my flash with a Better Beamer. At full power and careful aim it wasn’t quite enough light so I bought a MagMod flash extender and added a second flash attached to the tripod leg with an Impact SuperClamp. To fire both flashes I moved the on-camera one to a flash bracket on the Wimberley and used a Canon radio trigger. I was on a reasonably steep hillside and I had to dig out a level spot for a camping stool to be able to see through the viewfinder of the Canon 1DX2. (I’ll be so happy to have an articulating viewfinder someday!) This setup was not amenable to taking down each night so I just left it in place for about 2 weeks as I watched the nest – it was in a fairly secluded location on our 5 acres and we were well into the dry season. After a couple of weeks of sitting there watching several times a day, the youngsters started leaning out farther (only one at a time) and one day I got what I’m pretty sure was their first venture out of the nest. I hadn’t even known there was more than one, but these two emerged and then a third, and a fight promptly ensued . Tonal corrections in LR and PS. 1/200 sec for flash sync, ambient light underexposed to get good light on the BG – ISO 800, f/14. I needed that aperture for a little more leeway with DOF. With the doubler, wide open was f/8 and focus was only by zooming in in Live View, and it changed as the ambient temperature did through the day. It was a project, but I got a few interesting pictures.

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2

Nice one. Good job with your setup and perseverance. Good feather detail and I like how the juvie is looking at the parent.

3

Love the explanation of what you went through for this shot. The hole in the tree looks so small. It is beyond my imagination leaving equipment out for two weeks in the weather. Nicely done.

4

Wow. Good for you. Hard work and perseverance paid off with a very nice out come. Nice feather detail and I like how you were able to get contact with both eyes and sharp. A curious little bird having a look see.

5

Thanks guys – great to have the effort appreciated! I could hardly believe it when three of them emerged. I had never seen any indication of sibling rivalry when one poked its head out so assumed it was only one. The one on the left is the first to emerge, and right after this another one came out. There was a fight and they disappeared around the back of the branch. After a while a parent came with a beak full of food and was clearly very puzzled when there were no takers. Leaving the camera out wasn’t really heroic – there are two kinds of weather that time of year – day and night. I covered it with a big garbage bag at night although there was hardly any dew, and with a white towel for the few hours in midday that it was in the sun.