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My son and I left the marsh and headed up to Yost Park in the hopes of spotting the barred owls. With the change back to standard time, we can now hit the park at dusk before calling it a day and returning home for dinner.
Our usual loop of the park east through the ravine and back west to the parking lot on the service road produced no owl sightings or soundings. About 15 minutes before sunset (it was already getting dark due to the overcast), I heard the cry of a pileated woodpecker from the ravine below me as I stood on the service road opposite the swimming pool. Remembering my previous shots of one entering a burrow shortly before dark, I rushed over to the tree which houses that burrow.
As I stood there, the woodpecker flew up to the tree and ducked inside the burrow. I had set the 5D Mk IIII to Tv mode with fixed settings of ISO/25600 and 1/500. It was very dark, so the camera defaulted to f/5.6 with the 5.6/100-400L zoom. The shots are admittedly dark and noisy, but I don't like using a flash to photograph birds.
Going.....
Going.....
Gone.
I did not know that pileated woodpeckers like to spend the night in a burrow, but this is the second time I have photographed what appears to be this behavior.
I went out at about 3:45 pm today (Nov. 5) and set up my 400 f4.6L and Canon 7D on a tripod. I waited as it got darker and darker. Lo and behold! The male Pileated arrived as scheduled at 4:28pm.
I should have aimed the camera a bit more below the opening. Sorry about the blurring - all the shots were at ISO 6400 and 1/20s
Trying to get a decent shot of the Pileated Woodpecker landing and entering his tree hollow gives one an appreciation for how much patience and work is involved
in getting a spectacular and publishable image!!!
The good news is that the woodpecker showed up right on time and this time I used the Canon 7D and 500mm f4L in an attempt to get a reasonable shot - no cigar
but I'll try again tomorrow given a break in weather.
All I needed was say 3 milliseconds - all he gave me was about 1. He did not land on the trunk first and then climb into the opening - this time he basically flew right to the
opening - I was lucky to get what I did (rather pathetic excuse - but that will have to do Full frame 500mm at f4 at 1/80s ISO 6400 (no noise cleanup). A bit of camera movement-my
fault
Our marina kingfishers are very territorial. They have their favorite perches and flight paths. Find the same for your local kingfishers and stake them out. Kingfishers are very chatty and usually announce their presence in advance of their arrival, which gives you time to pick them up in flight.
Friday (11/8) was the first sunny day in quite awhile, so I granted work release to my son and me. We met up with Terry at the marsh and then went over to the fishing pier.
One of the Pt.Edwards eagles was at its usual spot on the piling by the ferry dock. It made a swoop for a fish but came up empty.
We are at that time of year when we must compensate for the low sun angle on bright, sunny days to keep the shots from being over exposed.
A gull kept hovering around a cormorant in the hopes of stealing its fish.
We later went up to Yost Park in time to catch the pileated woodpecker heading into its cavity for the night. Terry said the woodpecker did the same thing as the day before, it flew directly up to the hole and popped in very quickly.
I would like to set up one more time using the 5D Mk III + 2.8/400L just to test the limits of ISO and shutter speed settings which can still pull off a decent shot.
Tuesday (11/12) was a four raptor day in the marsh/Pt. Edwards portion of the Edmonds Birdmuda Triangle.
While my son Daren was working out at the gym I went down to the marsh, where I noticed something unusual out on the far mudflat off the #2 viewing platform. It turned out to be a juvie peregrine falcon.
The falcon sat there about 15-20 minutes before getting a drink and taking off south around Pt. Edwards.
Terry, Daren, and I hit the marina after lunch. As we were standing in the marina parking lot getting ready to leave, we noticed two evil minions of the Dark Lord chasing a red-tailed hawk in the direction of the marsh. It was probably the same hawk (and the same crows) I had seen circling over the marsh the previous day.
After Terry left, Daren and I went up to the Pt. Edwards walkway, where we saw an adult Accipiter perched on the old light stand.
It was either a sharp-shinned or a Cooper's hawk. While the hawk probably has no identity crisis, I (on the other hand) have difficulty telling the difference between the two.
The fourth member of the day's raptor quadfecta was one of the Pt. Edwards eagles. It flew north along Edmonds Way/Sunset Ave., then landed somewhere down in the marsh.
It came back up carrying a branch and headed south past the raptor tree on the fish hatchery grounds towards its nest in Woodway.
At times it looked as though it was air surfing.
Hanging ten, baby
The eagle lost its grip on the branch and dropped it. It did not bother to retrieve the branch but continued flying south. Daren and I checked the nest afterwards but did not see any eagles in it or in the nearby trees.
Eagles do not always lay eggs every year. The Pt. Edwards pair had one eaglet in 2011, none in 2012, and two this year (2013). This gathering of a branch may just be an instinctual reaction to upgrade the nest. This winter I'll keep a close watch on Pt. Edwards pair and their nest to see if there are any eaglets for 2014.
There was a pair of hooded mergansers swimming in the retention pond directly below the hawk. I think they are large enough to know that the hawk is not going to come after them.
Nice group of shots from the day, Bill. Nice to see the Eagles at it again. Not surprised you couldn't see any at the nest - given its size. Also glad to see the mergansers at the pond. BTW, might be worth sending Kevin the hawk shots and get his ID.
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