# Pileated Woodpecker in flight



## EricD

This is one of my nemesis,,,,,,Pileated Woodpecker in flight.. Today I got some half way descent shots. i lowered the shutter speed to get a little motion blur on the wings. Photos taken near sunset


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## bagged00

thats awesome


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## Bios.

The pose of the 4th one is brilliant. He's about to go supersonic!


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## peeper

wonderful work!.....i like the dive bomber too!


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## Frequency

Third is the best; fourth is the next; as usual, all are stupendous

Regards


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## hawk232

HOW DO YOU DO IT!?!?!? great photos!!


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## Hardrock

Outstanding and what a beautiful bird!


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## JDRoth

Fantastic shots as usual. I love pileateds however in pictures they always seem look to my eye to be stuffed.


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## FranDaMan

Great shots, 3 and 4 as favourites


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## Markw

Wonderful shots!  Just out of curiosity, though, why did you want motion blur in the wings?

Mark


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## D-B-J

Great shots!  The third is definately my favorite.

Regards,
Jake


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## jtee

Thats a great series of shots Eric..... hard bird to get in flight  you did great in capturing this .


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## EricD

Markw said:


> Wonderful shots!  Just out of curiosity, though, why did you want motion blur in the wings?
> 
> Mark



Well .....for something different. Most people, including myself like to freeze the wings in our flight shots. But sometime a little wing blur gives a sense of speed and motion. As we know, these birds are fast.


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## Markw

That's true.  You werent worried at all about getting some motion blur in the eyes and head as well?  This is interesting.

You look like you were up high when you took the first two..how did you get on the same level as the bird?

Mark


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## MSnowy

another nice set


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## Marc-Etienne

As usual, very impressive!! #3 is just too perfect! He looks like a bullet, awesome!


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## EricD

Markw said:


> That's true.  You werent worried at all about getting some motion blur in the eyes and head as well?  This is interesting.
> 
> You look like you were up high when you took the first two..how did you get on the same level as the bird?
> 
> Mark



I new if I stayed locked in on him that 1/1000 sec shutter speed would be enough to get his head in focus. I do use a tri-pod as well.

I was able to get the shots just over my head. he would fly be me pretty low each time. He and his matee hang in the same tree as some Northern Flickers. I have these guys locked in on flight patterns! :mrgreen:


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## Randyh

Eric great shots,just curious though were these in a suburban area or out in the sticks?

Reason I ask is We live in the deep woods and have these around alot,But they spook so easy I have never even been able to get a shot.


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## EricD

Randyh said:


> Eric great shots,just curious though were these in a suburban area or out in the sticks?
> 
> Reason I ask is We live in the deep woods and have these around alot,But they spook so easy I have never even been able to get a shot.



These were taken in a suburban area....right next to the Eagle nest pics I post. I can set my tripod up and score on both the Eagles and The pileated since they share the same tree


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## photorookie12

Impressive pictures.  The one thing I'm wondering is if the contrast should be higher, in particular a deeper blue sky.


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## Randyh

EricD said:


> Randyh said:
> 
> 
> 
> Eric great shots,just curious though were these in a suburban area or out in the sticks?
> 
> Reason I ask is We live in the deep woods and have these around alot,But they spook so easy I have never even been able to get a shot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These were taken in a suburban area....right next to the Eagle nest pics I post. I can set my tripod up and score on both the Eagles and The pileated since they share the same tree
Click to expand...



OK thanks,I know these creatures can adapt and get used to having people around,,And the same tree? Wow!  Nice shots and great work Eric.

Keep them coming.


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## Buckster

Stunning!  :thumbup:


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## EricD

photorookie12 said:


> Impressive pictures.  The one thing I'm wondering is if the contrast should be higher, in particular a deeper blue sky.



Sky was that color. Sunset was getting close and with the surrounding trees it took the rich blue out of the sky. I am not into changing sky color or backgrounds.....guess i could of thou.


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## thatfornoobs

I like the comp on that last one.


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