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1\/2500, f\/5, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Four years ago today I was photographing nesting Red-naped Sapsuckers in the Uinta Mountains. Both adults were busy feeding sap-dipped ants to their chicks and removing fecal sacs and wood chips from the nest cavity.<\/p>\n I believe this is the female of the pair about to enter the cavity with a load of ants. I took many shots of her before she entered the cavity but I like these two in particular because her red crown was raised which was something I didn’t often see.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/5, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n For a moment she pulled her head back and turned it my way slightly which allowed an even better look at her raised red crown. It’s too bad that her head position put a shiny spot on the aspen bark right at the tip of her bill.<\/p>\n She didn’t enter the nest cavity immediately because her mate was already inside collecting wood chips for disposal. I was always trying to capture them leaving the nest but it’s an explosive exit and easy to miss.<\/p>\n This time I missed it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/5, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But seven minutes later I had better luck. Here the exiting bird has a small load of wood chips that can be seen inside its bill.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But the wood chip loads weren’t always small. Sometimes I marveled that they could stuff so many chips into their bills and make them stay there.<\/p>\n Chips are removed from the cavity for two reasons – they’re often sodden with chick wastes so they have to be removed for sanitary reasons and the adults are constantly chipping away at the interior of the cavity to make it large enough to accommodate the growing chicks. When I’m photographing sapsuckers at their nest cavity I can often hear them pounding away inside where I can’t see them. When I hear the pounding stop I know it’s time to get ready with my camera for one of their explosive exits.<\/p>\n To be successful at catching them leaving the cavity photographers have to use every trick in the book (as long as it’s ethical and safe for the birds of course.)<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hungry chicks in the nest cavity have to be fed and it’s a two parent job.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/red-naped-sapsucker-5062-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-naped-sapsucker-5062-ron-dudley\\"")
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