{"id":53344,"date":"2018-08-03T05:19:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T11:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=53344"},"modified":"2023-09-05T08:52:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T14:52:48","slug":"downy-woodpecker-close-up-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/03\/downy-woodpecker-close-up-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Downy Woodpecker Close Up In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DownyDowny Woodpecker close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Who knew that Downy Woodpeckers have eyes the color of a fine Cognac? I didn’t until I took this Downy Woodpecker close up in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> one month ago.<\/p>\n

I had been photographing Yellow Warblers, Cedar Waxwings and Gray Catbirds when I heard a familiar call from a distance then saw a black and white bird fly in close to where I sat inside of a mobile blind. I hoped to get a photo of the bird I heard which I knew to be a Downy Woodpecker but what I didn’t expect was just how close the woodpecker would be when it popped into my view, it was probably less than 20 feet away and at that point I knew I couldn’t fit the whole body of the downy in my viewfinder even if I took my teleconverter off and so I opted to take close ups of the Downy’s face, head and upper body instead.<\/p>\n

The Downy Woodpecker was only in plain view for a few seconds and I only took two photos that I liked and this is one of them. Both images showed the iris of the small woodpecker nicely and while reviewing the photos on my camera LCD I could see that they were the color of a fine Cognac.<\/p>\n

In late June before I photographed this Downy Woodpecker the American Ornithological Society (AOS) split the woodpecker genus Picoides and the Downy Woodpecker changed from the scientific name Picoides pubescens<\/em> to Dryobates pubescens<\/em><\/span><\/a> which probably doesn’t mean much to most people who might be viewing this post but I thought it should be mentioned because in the world of birders it is kind of a big thing.<\/p>\n

I do wish I would have had a little bit more time with this Downy Woodpecker but it disappeared into the bushes and I could only get obstructed views of it. I do see these small woodpeckers at home though I have found that they can be hard to photograph there because by the time I get out the door with my camera they are usually long gone.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Downy Woodpecker photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who knew that Downy Woodpeckers have eyes the color of a fine Cognac? I didn’t until I took this Downy Woodpecker close up in the Wasatch Mountains one month ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2142,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,3940,4142,193,2143,4062,4069,6690,5906,2315,4777,2146],"class_list":["post-53344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-downy-woodpeckers","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-downy-woodpecker","tag-dryobates-pubescens","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-picoides-pubescens","tag-riparian-zone","tag-summer-3","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t