Red-breasted Nuthatch Hanging From Conifer Cones

I’m on a roll with upside down birds. Yesterday I posted an upside down Mountain Chickadee and today I’m posting…

 

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

an upside down Red-breasted Nuthatch. And the two birds have something else in common. Both were photographed on the same day, November 17, 2019, in the same location (but different trees) in the mountains of the west desert and at nearly the same time. The time stamp on both photos is 10:01 AM.

The male (top of head is black, not gray-blue as in females) nuthatch was harvesting seeds from Douglas Fir cones. Typical of the species, he wasn’t eating them on the spot. Instead, he was collecting them to cache nearby. I always tried to catch the nuthatches taking off from the cones, usually upside down when they did so, with a seed in their bill but they’re so incrredibly quick that’s a very tall order. Usually I failed.

But I was still pleased to get this shot with the interesting pose, the complementary colors of bird and cones and the clean, variegated background.

For those of you growing weary of the older photos I’ve been posting for the last few days, hopefully that’s about to come to an abrupt end. Our skies cleared during the night last night and the forecast for the week is looking good, so I should be able to get out into the field again very soon.

It’s about damn time. My cabin fever is raging.

Ron

 

19 Comments

  1. Old, new, repeats…. It matters not. Your photos are a treat. And a wonderful start to my day. Thank you.

  2. Thanks for the Male/Female ID tip. Early summer we had a RBNH pair investigate an old apple stump outside the kitchen window as a possible nest site, but they ended up in the spruce, and I think must have been very successful – their calls are coming from all the trees in the yard, and the binocs are very busy, trying to spot them. Your photo lets me enjoy the details I’m missing as they flit around . (We had White-breasted ones in NJ, very proper in their grey/white suits. I love the touch of color on our western ones.)

  3. This may be an irruption year for these honkers. Normally — although who knows what that means these days — the Red-Breasted Nuthatches are absent here on the Mendocino Coast. Our regular is Pygmy Nuthatch. This year, I’ve heard the toy car beeping, and others have spotted the little guys. I’m hopeful that they stick around this winter.

  4. Never ever do we have a problem with older shots Ron. Oldies are goodies. Beautiful photo. Really like the colors and contrasts and look how sharp that beak is. Glad your skies are clearing as ours become gray and ominous.

  5. They ARE fun to watch working the cones in the spruce trees here. 🙂

    .8″ rain last night adding to the .9 the night before! We’ll take it! Those done seeding smiling, those who aren’t not so much…… 😉

    Great Blue went to land in the yard this morning but veered off when it saw me! Suspect fishing in my pond was the goal since the creek is murky….. 😉 Some squawking later where it had landed.

  6. What a graceful pose ! I guess nuthatches must not suffer from
    reflux……I have enjoyed seeing work from your treasure chest
    and now I’m glad you are free to gather more beauty–should be a great week of weather for you !

  7. Another great shot. Still kind of a newbie to FP, so bring on the old photos!

  8. I love seeing your photos, old or new. They are always beautiful and interesting.
    Take Care,
    Kaye

  9. Kenneth C Schneider

    Quite a coincidence in the timing. Very nice images of both birds. At our feeder, the White-breasted Nuthatches always seem to carry away a single sunflower seed. Each bird has is own special “butcher block,” whether a crevice in the granite or in tree bark where it repeatedly return to “hatch” the seed.

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