February Flickers

Gallery: AvianPosted February 18, 2013200 views13 comments

Spotted a male/female Northern Flicker pair this morning, got a few shots. I shot the female very early at ISO 800 and 1/200th in low light.
She had an unusual case of leucism, the "pied" version which is an absence of melanin in some feathers creating white patches.
And the male here is chugging down some liquid refreshment at the old waterhole

F/10, 1/640th, ISO 500, 1D M3, 300mm f/2.8 + Kenko 2x ext and natural light @ 10:17 with light clouds.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on February 18, 2013 at 6:58 PM

The female with the "pied" version of Leucism.

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on February 18, 2013 at 7:12 PM

Very nice, Howard. These are wonderful big birds and they almost never seem to give us a shot without background. You're s here stand out nicely.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on February 18, 2013 at 8:38 PM

You always have a way with getting a lovely shot. These birds are very cute. POV and DOF are perfect

Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Adams on February 18, 2013 at 8:53 PM

Both are very nice shots! Love the low angle and the "pose" of the male. Nicely done.

Registered on January 24, 2006, 119 Posts, 1871 Comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on February 18, 2013 at 9:14 PM

Very cool shot, love the low POV.

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on February 18, 2013 at 9:19 PM

The pose and the low angle are great. Very good capture of the leucistic female. I'm looking forward to seeing this species return here.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on February 18, 2013 at 9:34 PM

GREAT LOOKING MALE, nice colors and habitat

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 19, 2013 at 7:51 AM

Way to cool Howard, one of the favorite birds due to their feather/color patterns. I see flickers all the time around SE Arizona but have yet to get a good picture of one. Very interesting post and excellent shot. The larger image looks great.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on February 19, 2013 at 9:51 AM

This is an exceptional image, Howard. The bird in its enviroscape tells the story.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on February 19, 2013 at 11:38 AM

You framed them very nicely ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on February 21, 2013 at 6:58 PM

Outstanding Howard! Beautiful colors and a nice low angle, great pose too.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 22, 2013 at 9:29 AM

A cool shot of this species Howard, I like the drinking pose. I might have used less dof to blur the bg more.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on February 24, 2013 at 9:19 PM

Love this image Howard. Like the nice low angle, the fact that the bird is drinking. Also like the habitat.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments