![\"northern](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/northern-flicker-7456-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThere can be significant drama in the\u00a0back story of an image\u00a0that we miss when looking at a single photo. Such is the case\u00a0with this image of a male Northern Flicker that I took last May near the border of southwest Montana and Idaho. I’ve told this story before but mostly with different images.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/strong> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The flicker was in the process of further excavating a nest\u00a0cavity in a dead aspen that had been used the previous year by Williamson’s Sapsuckers. Here he’s preparing to enter the cavity but there’s more going on than meets the eye. The flicker is under attack.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/strong> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The aggressor\u00a0was a much smaller but very persistent male Mountain Bluebird with his own designs on the nest cavity. Whenever the flicker was near the entrance to the cavity the bluebird would dive-bomb him relentlessly. The action was so furiously fast that I never was able to get both birds sharp while the bluebird was attacking in flight but this image should still allow\u00a0the viewer\u00a0to “get the picture”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/strong> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Whenever the flicker was away the bluebird and his mate would attempt to claim the cavity (these bluebirds are also cavity nesters). This competition went on for several days and by the time I left Montana for home the outcome was\u00a0still to be determined.<\/p>\n On my return trip to the area a few weeks later I learned that the flicker won the battle but both birds lost the war.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is the nest tree as I found it in the rain on my second trip in June – it had been chopped down by campers for firewood and there were broken eggs inside the cavity (I reached inside and placed one of the broken eggshells above the entrance). The flicker had apparently won the battle with the bluebird because these eggs were white (flicker eggs are white and bluebird eggs are usually pale blue) and they were too large to be bluebird eggs.<\/p>\n My original intention with this post was to only post the first image of the flicker but once I got into it I couldn’t see not telling at least part of\u00a0the back story even though I’ve told a different version of\u00a0it before. After this much time I thought this sad story was worth retelling.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – Because of a very slow moving winter storm I’ve been unable to go shooting for five days now and I’ve been going batty with cabin fever. But it’s looking like we’ll have some light this morning so I hope to be able to scratch my itch. I can hardly wait!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There can be significant drama in the back story of an image that we miss when looking at a single photo. <\/p>\n![\"northern](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/northern-flicker-7438-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"mountain](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/mountain-bluebird-7552-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"nest](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/nest-cavity-aspen-5413-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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