The next day got to see two woodpeckers peck at trees in tandem. Well, not in tandem really. But in trees nearby enough that, if I had the camera up to my face constantly, I could have taken quite a nice photograph...but noooo, they moved. This camera has been through a lot and I feel lucky and guilty and appreciative to have it but the truth is this: its zoom capacity is sorely lacking and its macro function and general focusing ability sometimes seems to be be fading. So these were the best pictures I could take.
This one, it may not be clear, is of the bird flying away. Just imagine what it would look like if I was a better photographer.
These birds never cease to impress and delight me. I think it's a combination of their sheer size, magnificent coloring (when I was in third grade I really, really loved the combination of red, black and white), their bird call, pretty much everything about the way they look and act is good in my book. One time, years back, one of these woodpeckers swooped right up to the house and started pecking at the rock. It seemed like it wasn't thinking too hard about it, wasn't hammering or overly searching like it wasn't really expecting to find anything, just passing the time. Casually- huh, I wonder what the equivalent action would be for humans. Playing with silverware without any intention or interest in eating?
The next day got to see two woodpeckers peck at trees in tandem. Well, not in tandem really. But in trees nearby enough that, if I had the camera up to my face constantly, I could have taken quite a nice photograph...but noooo, they moved. This camera has been through a lot and I feel lucky and guilty and appreciative to have it but the truth is this: its zoom capacity is sorely lacking and its macro function and general focusing ability sometimes seems to be be fading. So these were the best pictures I could take.
This one, it may not be clear, is of the bird flying away. Just imagine what it would look like if I was a better photographer.
These birds never cease to impress and delight me. I think it's a combination of their sheer size, magnificent coloring (when I was in third grade I really, really loved the combination of red, black and white), their bird call, pretty much everything about the way they look and act is good in my book. One time, years back, one of these woodpeckers swooped right up to the house and started pecking at the rock. It seemed like it wasn't thinking too hard about it, wasn't hammering or overly searching like it wasn't really expecting to find anything, just passing the time. Casually- huh, I wonder what the equivalent action would be for humans. Playing with silverware without any intention or interest in eating?
2 comments:
i'm sure you have a bird guide, just wanted to be double-sure you know of a good resource for checking IDs and reading about all these great birds you see! http://sibley.enature.com/
i prefer sibley over peterson (oooo, birding drama looms) just because sibley's still alive and i've had a few birding friends receive actual replies/help from him with some rarities they've spotted (albino red-tailed hawk, for example).
happy birding :)
Woodpeckers are cool except when they decide your shingled house is one huge tree to peck at, thus making holes, thus making potential homes for bugs and such, thus justifying in Woody's mind the value of pecking on your house in the first place: combo bug condo and buffet.
And sometimes they drum on the weirdest surfaces, rocks not coming instantly to mind as a good source for resonance but to each his own, to claim territory. Deep thrumming and rattling on the metal downspouts usually signals: my 'hood and stay the heck out. There was one in Sewanee years ago who used to play his territory tune on the metal "away team" bleachers at the football field. You could hear him all over campus it seemed. We thought he was stupid, then we were enlightened about the whole territory thing.
Rock noodling might be some other form of woodpecker pastime; I like the human silverware noodling as a parallel.
Post a Comment