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<\/p>\nA handsome little bird, an interesting behavior and a setting I’ve always loved.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, 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 I enjoy photographing birds in Douglas Fir trees because I think it’s an unusually attractive setting, particularly when the current year’s cones are included in the frame. Throw in an interesting feeding behavior and I’m a happy photographer.<\/p>\n Three days ago I spent some time with this male Red-breasted Nuthatch collecting seeds from the cones. Here he’s pulling out one of the cone scales with an attached seed that we can’t see. I was pleased to get the nuthatch in a side view with light in his eye against a clean background and the bird, both primary cones and most of the needles sharp. I can easily live with the out of focus cone at upper right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, 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 He spent most of his time hanging from the cones or moving from one cone to another so I only rarely got photos of him perched on the branches or needles.<\/p>\n It’s almost a novelty to get a photo of a nuthatch that isn’t upside down or pointed straight up on a cone or tree trunk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, 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 He was an incredibly picky eater. I’d estimate that he deliberately dropped nearly half of the seeds he collected. Interestingly there was a group of White-crowned Sparrows beneath the tree that seemed to be foraging for and eating the seeds nuthatches had discarded.<\/p>\n When he had a seed in his bill this completely upside down pose could mean one of two things – he’s either about to drop the seed or he’s about to take off with it to eat or cache it. I always tried to photograph both behaviors, him dropping the seed or taking off with it, but both actions were incredibly quick with unpredictable timing.<\/p>\n In this particular instance he dropped the seed and in the next photo in the burst I caught it falling but it’s a terrible photo of the nuthatch so I haven’t included it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, 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 Even though I tried many times I never did get a great takeoff shot. Nuthatches are just too fast and there’s too many things that can and do go wrong. Here his head isn’t quite sharp enough and I don’t have enough room at the bottom of the frame for a composition I like. But I count this shot as a minor success if only because I didn’t clip or cut off any body parts.<\/p>\n When it comes to quality takeoff or flight shots these birds are a tough nut(hatch) to crack.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-3395-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-breasted-nuthatch-3395-ron-dudley\\"")
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