Pic of the Day

Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sitta pusilla:  Guntersville Dam 

Recreational Area near New Hope, Alabama; USA

     In June of 2015 I made a day trip to Guntersville Dam Recreational area near New Hope, Alabama.  The recreational area is home to Brown-headed Nuthatches, a species that I had been trying to photograph for many years.  

     No sooner had I arrived and started my search, I heard the high-pitched piping notes of the nuthatches above me in the canopy of loblolly pines.  The birds, a small family group of half a dozens birds were searching for insects and spiders in the tree tops. 

     I knew that photographing these birds would be difficult as they spend much of their time in the canopy some sixty to seventy feet above the ground.  So, I put a couple of suet feeders on some trees that I wanted the bird to visit.  I chose trees that I could park close to, which allowed me to use my van as a blind.  I also chose trees that had an unobstructed view of distant foliage as a background.

     It took almost three weeks for the nuthatches to find the feeders, but when they did, they began to go to them on a regular basis.  Getting the birds where I wanted them was a bit time consuming, but it allowed me the opportunity to get this and many other shots.  I love it when I can simply go out and shoot, and come back with good images.  But sometimes you have to really work to get a shot, but usually its worth the trouble.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/250 second @ f/8

Pic of the Day

Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sitta pusilla:

Guntersville Dam Recreational Area, Alabama

     The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a small nuthatch that climbs headfirst down the trunk of trees searching for insects.  This nuthatch is one of the few tool users in the animal kingdom.  This little engineer uses a piece of bark as lever to pry up other bark as it looks for food.  It has been observed carrying its bark tool from tree to tree as it searches for food.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/640 second @ f/7.1

Pic of the Day

Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sitta pusilla:

Guntersville Dam Recreational Area near New Hope, Alabama

     While photographing Red-headed Woodpeckers at the Guntersville Dam Recreational Area I spotted a colony of Brown-headed nuthatches.  These bird typically stayed in the upper branches of the Loblolly Pines, but when I but out some sunflower seeds near a tree that they were favoring, they came down the trunk into photographic range.  This is an image I have longed to take.  A quite perfect pose, but I'm sure I can do better.  Maybe on the next trip.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/125second @ f7.1

Pic of the Day

    Life is interesting and full of surprises.  I like the good surprises, the bad ones, not so much.  Yesterday afternoon I needed to get out of the house.  So, I loaded the camera gear and headed to Guntersville Dam Recreation Area (north side).

     When I arrived I stopped at a small creek and listened for Prothonotary Warblers, but I didn’t hear one.  After the brief stop I dove further along and passed a small pond.   As I passed the pond I thought to myself  that I should stop and see if there were any Red-headed Woodpecker around.  I had seen red-headeds around the pond pretty regularly in years past, but not so often in the last couple of years.  I decide I would check on my way out.  That way I could pull off and shoot out of the driver’s window if there were birds there.

Red-headed Woodpecker,  Melanerpes erythrocephalus:

Guntersville Dam Recreation Area near New Hope, Alabama

     I drove on to the picnic area where I knew there was a colony of Brown-headed Nuthatches, thinking I might take a few photos of them.  On the way I spotted a couple of people I knew so I stopped to say hello.   Within a few minutes I was on my way.

     I had not driven two-hundred feet when I spotted a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers flying from a picnic table.  I stopped to watch the birds for a few minutes to discover that they were gleaning something from the picnic table.   They appeared to be gleaning food crumbs.  As I watched I discovered the trees that they flew from before alighting on the table.

Red-headed Woodpecker,  Melanerpes erythrocephalus:

Guntersville Dam Recreation Area near New Hope, Alabama

     Being opportunistic, I parked my van close to one of the trees so I could take photographs.  My presences did not seem to bother the birds as they went about their business.  Using the van as a blind I was able to get some very nice close-ups.  After the birds had finished gleaning the crumbs I followed them around the picnic area for a few more shots.

    I had not photographed Red-headed Woodpeckers since the spring of 1975.  So I was pretty excited for the opportunity and quite surprised to find this pair of photographable bird.  When I left the area I was a pretty happy camper.  By the way,  I forgot all about stopping at the pond on the way out.

Top:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/500 second @ f/7.1

Bottom:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/160 second @ f/8