When I opened the door onto our deck this afternoon to take our pets out for their afternoon outing, I spooked a Northern Flicker that was on a tree right off the deck. I’ve never seen one so close to the house, so I ran back in and grabbed my X-T2 + 50-230. It only took me a few seconds to get the camera, but the Flicker was back on the same tree when I came back out. It flew off again, but I waited. Sure enough, it came back, but this time it had a companion. They’ve always been really skittish when I encounter them in the woods, but these birds flitted from branch to branch, offering me some excellent poses.
Not only that, but a Pileated Woodpecker loudly announced its arrival as it landed on the big Shagbark Hickory in our back yard. That tree was about twice as far from me and the Pileated was up near the top, but I was able to slowly maneuver myself into a position where I had a better view. The bird flew into another tree even farther away, but at least it landed where I could get a good profile shot.
Both of these birds have been on my photographic bucket list for years. I’ve never been able to get more than a far away blurry snap of either, and today I got both within 15 minutes of each other. Sweet!!