On Wednesday I paid another visit to Calke Park, with the hope of seeing Little Owl. I found one at my Site No.31, but it was very distant (as usual!), so I decided to try my luck with some of the other birds in the area. To cut a long story short, I managed what are, undoubtedly, my best ever shots of Great Spotted Woodpecker. First to arrive was a female bird.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (female) - Calke Park |
I was busy photographing some of the other birds, when a male GS Woody arrived. The light was a little more difficult by then but I did manage some 'keepers'.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (male) - Calke Park |
I'm very pleased with the results, although (as always!) there's plenty of room for improvement. Some of my images of the other birds will probably turn out to be not too bad when I've sorted through them. If this is the case, they'll feature in a future post.
Return to Calke Park....I'm very pleased with the results too.
ReplyDeleteMy spell checker has just suggested changing Calke to Cake. Well I think you got the icing on it this time Richard.
Thank you Pete. I think that there is still plenty for me to go for at this location!
DeleteStunning Richard, a brilliant set!
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul - it was a lucky break!
DeleteBrilliant pictures, the lovely red spot on the back of the males head. From Findlay
ReplyDeleteThank you Findlay. There's no doubt that the Great Spotted Woodpecker is a spectacular and charismatic bird, but that red on them (particularly in the sunlight) adds to their appearance greatly in my opinion.
DeleteCan't fault a single one Richard. My personal favourites are the first female woodie with the great colours in the background and the last female image with it griping onto the lichen covered branch (I like seeing lichen in an image) and how some of it has rubbed onto the base of the tail feathers. All three males have fantastic detail too. Great set of images.
ReplyDeleteThank you,Doug, for your very kind words.
DeleteA magnificent series, Richard. Such wonderful light and detail.
ReplyDeleteThank you Christian
DeleteGreat set of pictures of GSW! We have no woodpeckers at all in Australia - I miss them!
ReplyDeleteI have come over from Mark Avery's blog - I run a collaborative bird photography page on my blog called "Wild Bird Wednesday" - it contains a very simple way to post a link back to your own blog. At present about 50 people post links to their own bird blog on it. It comes out every (surprise, surprise!) Wednesday and stays open for links until Friday. I would love to see images of this quality appear! So, if you have any interest this weeks WBW can be found here:
http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/wild-bird-wednesday-22-rose-ringed.html
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne, Australia
Thank you Stewart. Sorry to hear that you've no woodpeckers down-under. Mind you, I'd give my right arm for some of the birds you HAVE got!!
DeleteHave signed up for WBW, and am now following your blog.
Best regards from sub-zero foggy England!
Thanks for the comment, follow and link to WBW!
DeleteYes, I dont think we are short on birds down here! Used to live in Somerset - so woodpeckers were part of the ervyday birding scene - although I never considered them everyday!
We hace feral bird issues here as well - has the scheme to remove the Ruddy Duck done what it set out to do?
SM
Not too sure about the Ruddy duck situation Stewart. They're still seen, but not very commonly.
DeleteBrilliant.
ReplyDeleteLovely bird shown in tremendous winter light here.
Thank you Dave. Sometimes you get lucky!
DeleteOutstanding! Truly wonderful shots of a Woodpecker that I don't get to see .... thanks for giving me a "look" at this lovely creature!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kerri. I wish we had the range of woodpecker species you get over there. We just get the three - one of which is rarely seen.
DeleteGorgeous images of the Great Spotted Woodpecker Richard! The first time I saw photos of this bird I was struck by its incredibly patterned plumage. I found you from WBW and will be back to see more when I get a chance. Being a huge Burrowing Owl advocate, your Little Owl avatar immediately caught my attention.
ReplyDeleteThank you Larry. I love birds in general, but my real passion is owls - particularly Little Owls, which are similar to your Burrowing Owls in appearance.
DeleteMagnificent captures Richard.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
Thank you John. I hope that you and Sue have a great Christmas.
DeleteGreat quality shots of a beautiful woodpecker! Very nice post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wally. I love your Osprey avatar. Fabulous birds!
DeleteOh dear!
ReplyDeleteThese pics are wonderful!
Would I manage only one of them I would be delighted!
I can well understand your excitement!
Thank you Noushka. Kind words indeed from someone as talented as yourself!
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