![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/williamsons-sapsucker-2649-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"williamsons-sapsucker-2649-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nDifferent woodpecker species often compete for the same nesting cavity and “ownership” can change from year to year.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS\u00a0USM @ 400 mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n In late June of 2014 I photographed a pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers at this nesting cavity near the border of southwest Montana and Idaho. On different trips to the area I spent considerable time with them as they refurbished the cavity and eventually had chicks (that I could hear but never did see).<\/p>\n Here I captured the female as she exited the cavity. This was always an extremely difficult shot to get because their exit cannot be anticipated and it’s very, very fast. So to give me a little more wiggle room in the frame\u00a0(and more depth of field) I switched over to my smaller\u00a0zoom lens to get this photo. It\u00a0may not be\u00a0a great shot technically but I still like it, in part\u00a0because of the degree of difficulty. I deleted dozens of “air shots” and images with clipped body parts trying to get photos similar to this one.<\/p>\n That long shadow of the bird on the trunk below it helps to tell the story of the image. Normally I like to photograph birds with the sun low in the sky but the angle of\u00a0that shadow correctly indicates that this shot was taken much later in the morning. Because of all the trees in the area there was never any light on the cavity until about 10 AM so I always photographed these birds in late morning. In bird photography you do what you have to do…<\/p>\n When I arrived at the same nest tree in early May of the following year (2015)\u00a0the cavity was occupied by a different species of woodpecker.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Now the new tenants were Northern Flickers and they were renovating the cavity for their own use. This is the male (red malar stripe) peering out at me just before he made his explosive exit. The cavity can best be identified as the same one in the two photos by the series of holes and scars in the bark of the aspen between the cavity entrance and the lower right corner of the images.<\/p>\n I think it’s also interesting to note the discoloration of the tree bark below the cavity entrance in each photo. That discoloration is caused by the activity of woodpeckers clinging to the tree below the hole where they land on their many thousands of trips\u00a0(often hundreds each day between the male and female) as they excavate or renovate the cavity and then bring food to\u00a0their youngsters or remove fecal sacs from the nest.<\/p>\n Sadly\u00a0this flicker pair didn’t complete the nesting season in this cavity. When we arrived at the tree a month later (6\/10\/15) the dead aspen\u00a0tree had been cut down by some\u00a0asshat for firewood. It had been a cold,\u00a0wet spring and the part of the tree containing the cavity had been drug some distance to a nearby\u00a0fire pit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’ve posted this image before but in this context I decided at the last minute\u00a0it begs to be included again. The nest cavity can be seen near the bottom (here the trunk fragment is upside down) and there were multiple broken eggs inside.\u00a0The cavity had been approximately\u00a0at eye level and the\u00a0bozo responsible surely\u00a0had to be aware of exactly what he\/she was doing.<\/p>\n Sorry for the downer to end this post.\u00a0To end this way\u00a0hadn’t been my original\u00a0plan but when I’m composing posts I often don’t know where the process will lead me.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Different woodpecker species often compete for the same nesting cavity and “ownership” can change from year to year.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/northern-flicker-7751-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-flicker-7751-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/nest-cavity-aspen-5410-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"nest-cavity-aspen-5410-ron-dudley\\"")
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