![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/northern-flicker-2665-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-flicker-2665-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n(plus some eclipse “stuff” for those not already burned out by all the hoopla).<\/p>\n
There has been no grape harvest in my yard for several seasons and this flicker is at least partly to blame. I used to harvest lots of grapes from the vines growing on my east and north fences. I don’t know the variety but they’re sweet and seedless and I\u00a0often used to munch on them while working in my garden. I’d serve them to guests and\u00a0occasionally I\u00a0had a bowl full of them\u00a0on my kitchen table.<\/p>\n
But no more – the birds have discovered them. I still don’t know who most of the culprits are because I seldom see anything but small songbirds lurking in the vines and it seems to me that they’re unlikely culprits. But about a year ago (9\/1\/16) I caught one of the\u00a0bandits red-handed.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n It was this female Northern Flicker. She was perched on the fence and trying to reach the grapes left on the cluster we see at lower right. Notice that many of the grapes\u00a0at the top of\u00a0that cluster that were within her reach had already been purloined. For some reason she seemed reluctant to leave the security of\u00a0her fence perch and\u00a0actually hop onto the vine to reach the grapes so she…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n pulled off a pretty amazing leaning job\u00a0and I’m still trying to figure out how she did it without toppling over.\u00a0She never did even open her wings during the attempt and after holding this position for several seconds she\u00a0eventually\u00a0gave up and disappeared into the thicket of grape vines. I think my presence made her nervous.<\/p>\n I checked the condition of my grapes last night and at this point there’s every indication of a bountiful harvest. But because of our cool, wet spring they still have a couple of weeks to go before they’re large and sweet enough for them to appeal to me and by then they’ll be stripped clean. I’m sure of it. That’s exactly what’s happened in each of the last several years.<\/p>\n I’m happy to feed the birds but I wish they wouldn’t be\u00a0so darned clandestine about their raids. I’d like to watch and photograph them during the feast.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – For those of you living in or traveling to the path of totality for today’s eclipse I wish you a spectacular experience and infinite amounts of luck with potential clouds and (especially) the madness of the crowds and traffic. Personally, I’d love to experience totality but even though I’m only\u00a0about 250\u00a0miles away from\u00a0that narrow path\u00a0I’m not even slightly\u00a0tempted to pay the price. Interstate 15 which runs through\u00a0Salt Lake City\u00a0is the second heaviest traveled freeway in the U. S. under normal conditions and is the route many thousands of folks south of us are using to get to and from\u00a0the totality path in Idaho, Wyoming and Oregon so\u00a0that narrow ribbon of pavement is\u00a0expected to be transformed into\u00a0a nightmarish parking lot for much of several days.<\/em><\/p>\n Anyone who really knows me knows I’d rather accidentally drop my 500mm lens over the edge of the Grand Canyon than go through that experience. No hyperbole there, folks –\u00a0I’m not kidding (at least not very much…).<\/em><\/p>\n Here in Salt Lake City we’ll have 91% blockage of the sun at 11:33 AM and it’s expected to appear like sunset but from the wrong angle and the sky will look more like dusk than morning.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n For me that\u00a0will have to suffice.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Addendum: We just passed through maximum sun blockage. It definitely looks spooky out there, especially with clear skies this time of day!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Plus some eclipse “stuff” for those not already burned out by all the hoopla.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/northern-flicker-2666-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-flicker-2666-ron-dudley\\"")
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