A Woodpecker and a Hobby

Phild · #1 (**permalink**) 23-09-2009, 10:41 PM

Nipped out today down to the RSPB reserve at Sandy, I had heard that there were a few woodpeckers around, so I thought it worth a go. I did expect to get one sitting on a feeder or something. Anyway, how wrong could I have been, ended up with a Hobby and a Woodpecker! The photo below looks like these two are good buddies! I can’t quite believe it!

Took about 800 shots of a Hobby (not sure if it’s the same Hobby!) It posed for me for about an hour, seemed to like the camera! I have so many more Hobby and Woodpecker shots, just sorting out the best ones. This picture was taken with a Canon EOS 50D, with a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens with 2 x extender on (600mm). F stop was 6.3 ISO was 500. I have only been taking pics for a few weeks, so not really knowledgeable about settings, fortunately the Hobby sat for so long, I got to use lots of combinations of settings.

Words · #2 (**permalink**) 23-09-2009, 11:49 PM

What a fantastic encounter! A pairing like that is a first on me. Fab!

Jonners · #3 (**permalink**) 24-09-2009, 12:00 AM

Wow! What an encounter... for you, and the birds! I did see a Sparrowhawk chasing a Green Woodpecker at the weekend, but they were gone in a flash. You had a real treat

Thanks for sharing

PS Welcome to WAB

Phild · #4 (**permalink**) 24-09-2009, 12:11 AM

Not heard of it myself, I don't think the Hobby eats Woodpeckers either! Very hard to photograph, they dart around most of the time. I was lucky enough to have my tripod and watched were it landed, it probably thought nobody could see it. One of the better ones is below.