{"id":26377,"date":"2014-09-03T05:36:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T11:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=26377"},"modified":"2014-09-03T05:36:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T11:36:00","slug":"williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Williamson’s Sapsuckers – The Changing Of The Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Williamson’s Sapsuckers I photographed earlier this summer had a routine while they were feeding their chicks and I presume it went on all day long.\u00a0 While one of the\u00a0parents was in the nest feeding ants to the youngsters, enlarging the nest chamber and picking up fecal pellets the other adult was out foraging for ants to bring to the hungry brood.\u00a0 The bird inside the nest rarely left before the other parent arrived\u00a0so I often tried\u00a0to photograph the “changing of the guard”\u00a0and include both adults in the photograph.\u00a0 And often a feisty pair of wrens made the exchange more complicated.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26382\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"732,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1404207459","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"640","shutter_speed":"0.0003125","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"williamson’s sapsucker 2208 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley-244x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26382 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"williamson's sapsucker 2208 ron dudley\" width=\"732\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley.jpg 732w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley-122x150.jpg 122w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2298-ron-dudley-400x491.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>\u00a01\/3200. f\/5, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Here the male, with a few ants in his bill for the chicks,\u00a0had landed just below the nest entrance and is half running, half flying straight up toward the hole.\u00a0 Over several mornings spent photographing these birds I noticed that the female nearly always carried significantly more ants than the male did – an observation I can’t explain.\u00a0 When this\u00a0shot was taken\u00a0the female was already in the nest.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26379\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"762,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1404207462","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"640","shutter_speed":"0.00025","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"williamson’s sapsucker 2214 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley-254x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26379 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"williamson's sapsucker 2214 ron dudley\" width=\"762\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley.jpg 762w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley-127x150.jpg 127w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2214-ron-dudley-400x472.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/4000. f\/5, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Almost immediately after one parent arrived at the\u00a0nest entrance\u00a0the other one would exit.\u00a0 Here you can see the bill-tip of the female as she prepares to leave.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26380\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"709,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1404207464","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"640","shutter_speed":"0.00025","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"williamson’s sapsucker 2219 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley-236x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26380 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"williamson's sapsucker 2219 ron dudley\" width=\"709\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley.jpg 709w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley-236x300.jpg 236w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley-118x150.jpg 118w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2219-ron-dudley-400x507.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/4000. f\/5. ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Both birds had the habit (a serendipitous one for this photographer) of leaning to their left to make room for the explosive\u00a0exit of their mate.\u00a0 If they had leaned the other way one of the birds would have been more obstructed by the other.\u00a0 In this shot the female has wood chips stuck to her bill from enlarging the nest chamber.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26381\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,662\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1404207464","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"640","shutter_speed":"0.00025","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"williamson’s sapsucker 2223 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley-300x220.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26381 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"williamson's sapsucker 2223 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"662\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley-150x110.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley-400x294.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>1\/4000. f\/5. ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Here you see why one bird has to duck when the other one leaves.\u00a0 I suspect both parents had been rudely slapped in the face by a wing and didn’t want to repeat the experience.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26378\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,688\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1401351792","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.0004","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"house wren 4867 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley-300x229.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26378 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"house wren 4867 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/house-wren-4867-ron-dudley-400x305.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>1\/2500. f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>A pair of\u00a0House Wrens with an attitude (I guess that’s a redundancy, isn’t it?) had their own nest hole several feet below the nest of the sapsuckers and those wrens would often harass the larger birds when they flew in.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26383\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"719,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1404205964","copyright":"","focal_length":"235","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0002","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"williamson’s sapsucker 2736 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley-239x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26383 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"williamson's sapsucker 2736 ron dudley\" width=\"719\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley.jpg 719w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley-239x300.jpg 239w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley-119x150.jpg 119w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2736-ron-dudley-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0\u00a0<em><strong>1\/2500. f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 235 mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here you see the female sapsucker with a bill full of ants reacting to an attack by one of the wrens.\u00a0 Those wrens were very fast and the attacks were difficult to photograph.\u00a0 The only reason I succeeded in this shot was because I noticed the reaction of the sapsucker as the wren approached, fired off a burst and got lucky.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">On our last Montana trip we returned to this tree just over the border in Idaho\u00a0hoping to see chicks as they fledged but we were too late.\u00a0 Even though the wrens were still there it seemed lonesome and quiet at the tree.\u00a0 Hopefully next summer we’ll find the sapsuckers again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Williamson’s Sapsuckers I photographed earlier this summer had a routine while they were feeding their chicks and I presume it went on all day long. And often a feisty pair of wrens made that routine more complicated. <\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/williamsons-sapsuckers-the-changing-of-the-guard\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[334,392,391,2089],"tags":[2091,1405,1573,2032,220,228,2039,2038],"class_list":["post-26377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-birds","category-feeding-bird-behaviors","category-nesting-and-mating","category-williamsons-sapsuckers","tag-ants","tag-attack","tag-house-wren","tag-idaho","tag-montana-2","tag-nest","tag-sphyrapicus-thyroideus","tag-williamsons-sapsucker"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/williamsons-sapsucker-2223-ron-dudley.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-6Rr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}