Perseverance

This is the best photo I’ve been able to make of a Northern Flicker.

Flickr FlickerNorthern Flicker (Click to see a larger version where you can zoom in a couple of levels.)

This one is yellow shafted and based on the black “mustache” a male. There’s also a western / red shafted variety but I haven’t seen one of those.

I don’t spot them very often although they have been in the blog before (https://edrosack.com/tag/northern-flicker/). The first photo I made of one was back in May of 2013. It’s a blurry image of the bird in flight, fleeing my camera. They seem to be very wary and for me nearly always leave as soon as I see one – which explains why it’s hard to get a good photo.

This bird acted like that too, but only flew short distances and I was able to watch him for a while. Finally he landed on top of a mangrove tree and I made this photo. The pose could be better but I like the warm early morning glow, the catch light in his eye, and the feather detail. Lest you think I was crowding him, that’s not the case. I’m not sure of the exact distance but the focal length I used was equivalent to 1260mm so he was pretty far away.

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”

John Quincy Adams

So persevere – it may take years and several tries on a lucky day to get a good photo.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can — keep making some photos!

©2022, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

6 thoughts on “Perseverance

  1. Kudos on your perseverance, Ed! You (and us) were rewarded handsomely.

    Flickers are such “sleek” looking woodpeckers. And if you can see those yellow feathers under the wings in the right light, well, that’s special.

    Wonderful portrait!

  2. How beautiful! We don’t see them often here either and they can be tricky to identify. You got a great photo with the red spot and I like it when the tail feathers are a bit splayed! Enjoy your day.

    1. Thanks Diane. They are interesting birds but as you see, I find them hard to photograph. I do like this photo, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying to get a better one!

I'd love to hear from you, please leave a comment!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.