Monday, July 27, 2015

Woodpecker



It is no wonder that one can easily spot birds and their nests at the Orcas Island. With an area of 57 square miles, it has only 4894 residents staying on it. Which means minimum disturbance from the human species.
I was walking down the path from Cherry Hill along the bay when I saw this tree with a black patch on it. 


Initially I thought it was a black patch, but was wondering how it could be a perfect round. 


I stopped and was intently gazing upon it when out popped a head of a young one. 


And therein started my saga with the young ones and their mother. 
Daily morning I used to be there with my camera to get some good shots/videos of the young one. 



Within the next four days I realised that there were three of them in that cavity though I could not get all three in a shot (managed to get them in the video) 



(I don’t know if there were more than three) At times they would lean out a lot waiting for their mother 




While scanning higher up on the same tree, I found another hole, probably occupied by another clutch from the earlier mating season. It is interesting to see the different marks and patterns on the bark. 


On the first day I did not see the mother. I could spend only about an hour daily as there were other places to be explored on the island, including whale watching (will write about that later)
On the second day I did spot the mother and captured (on video) how she signaled to the young ones to keep quiet, so as not to give away their hiding place.


After seeing the mother I realised that it’s a Northern Flicker Woodpecker, found mostly in the northern parts of America. They have got barred upper parts and spotted underparts. The “Black Bib” on the upper chest is very prominent with a red malar (moustache)  
The little guy sort of got used to me hanging around and did not mind


 All pictures and videos were captured from a distance (about 20 meters) Have put together all the interesting parts of the mother and the chicks to make a short video on it. 



I have kept the ambient sound as it is, so you will mostly hear the blue north western Pacific waters lapping away at the bay. 



28 comments:

José Paul said...

Beautiful moments well captured. Took me to the world of nature. Great.

Misha Gerrick said...

Beautiful pictures. :-)

stephen Hayes said...

Great pictures. You practically get us into that nest.

Sandee said...

Awww, they are so adorable and so loud too.

Have a fabulous day. ☺

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Joe, this is just so peaceful and heart-warming!!! Fabulous captures and lovely just to hear nature... loved the little sibling tussle at around 10mins! thank you for this... YAM xx

Jocee said...

Brilliant. Loved the video.

Anonymous said...

Your Video on Northern Woodpecker attached to the Blog is too good..
Keep sharing - U G Kulkarni

Anonymous said...

Joe, Thanks so much - what lovely photos and an amazing video. How did you manage to hold the camera so still? Did you use additional lenses? - Dr Nandini

Rick (Ratty) said...

That is great. When I saw the first picture with the hole I was thinking how great it would be to get the birds in there too. It's things like this that really make me love nature.

trees said...

Now, if only blog posts like this and the video shown here could be seen by school children who study about 'the environment' through books.

Julia Thorley said...

These photos are truly amazing.

Marco Luijken said...

Hello,
What a great shots of these little woodpeckers. So nice!!
It's great that you've seen them with their funny head out of that tree.
A nice moment which you've photograph very well.

Greetiings, Marco

Ygraine said...

Hi there,
What fascinating shots. I adore woodpeckers, and these are absolutely stunning.
I, too, love that little head peeping out of the hole in the tree...so cute!

Amazing.:)

George said...

You got some great pictures (and video) of the baby woodpeckers and their mother. We have Northern Flickers at our feeders during parts of the year, although they tend to go elsewhere for the summer. We look forward to having them back.

Linda said...

Awwwww....how beautiful to see these little birds! I don't often get to see them in the big city (Montreal), so thank you so much for capturing and sharing these lovely scenes! :)

Stephanie Faris said...

How cool! I don't think I've ever seen a woodpecker up close, so these pictures were informative.

JFM said...

I love everything about nature and these were wonderful photos and captures. I must look through more of my photos and find some interesting shots for my blog.

Very inspirational posting...thank you for sharing~

Jan

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

ReallY great series Joe! I've seen flickers often but never have been lucky enough to find their nest. Just beautiful to see... Love their little heads poking out ... You nan almost hear them saying "I'm hungry"! You are getting a wonderful experience ... The ocean noises are beautiful.

Adelaide said...

Wonderful photos and video. Such patience on your part.

Adelaide

Stewart M said...

Great shots and videos - I really like woodpeckers, but we don't have any here. Nice to see these.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Magyar said...

Grand photos and video!
__The bird seems a part of the tree's trunk as the hen cares for her young. Natures Story... so well read. _m

Insignia said...

Its a treat when you just find something like this. Lovely pictures

Amita Prakash J said...

just wow......

Gemstone said...

WOW .. Very Beautiful Pics .

Amit
lamba

Rama Ananth said...

It was so beautifully taken, and I really enjoyed every bit of the video. Each as if rendering a part in this beautiful natural drama. It is excellent!
Where are you now, lucky always travelling to nice and exotic places. Enjoy!

Preeti said...

Wow they look so cute - especially the three popping out ! :)

Rat said...

So cute.! Wonderful set of pictures.
A Rat's Nibble

Locomente said...

Aww... So sweet pics...
Thanks a lot for sharing :)