Two days; two birds

We’re in the summer doldrums right now. I’ve talked about them before. The birds aren’t very visible, and they’re not calling the way they do in mating season. My daily species counts are in the 14-18 range, rather than 24-28.

At this time, I think about the camera slung over my shoulder and I wonder if I should just walk without it for a few weeks. I then remind myself that you never know what you might see. That point was driven home over the past two days.

Pileated Woodpeckers are relatively common in other woods around us, but don’t often come through Seagroves Park. Yesterday I was chatting with R & C when a woodpecker flew across the pond. At first I thought it was a Flicker, but as it called and got closer, I realized it was a Pileated Woodpecker. It flew over our heads to a tree across the road from the park, which meant I had to shoot into the sun. I always seems that when I see Pileated Woodpeckers, the conditions are not ideal. But I got a shot and with a bit of doctoring, it’s not too bad.

Today, I had another encounter with a special bird in “compromised” photographic circumstances. I heard some calling in the woods and noticed when a large bird fluffed its feathers. My initial take was that it was an immature Red-shouldered Hawk, as it was very close to the nest I was following in early June. But as I looked at it and as it moved, I realized the face was not quite that of a hawk (I had my doubts, even from the start). Eventually I got a good enough look at it to realize it was an immature Barred Owl.

Identifying it was one thing. Getting a good picture was an entirely different problem. It was in some dark trees, with sun-lit trees behind it. In addition, it was deep in the woods, with almost no clear lines of sight. I can’t say this is a great picture, but it’ll do.