Of all the birds I've photographed in the Wind River Canyon ecosystem, more than 120 different species and still counting, the most difficult to photograph are the woodpeckers.  I've never been too successful at luring them in with a man-made food source; Mother Nature seems to provide lots of goodness right here in the canyon.  So, for this particular family it truly is a matter of serendipity.  

     Case in point....early one morning in late July, just before our Sun broke the rim of the canyon, I spotted a woodpecker while filling my coffee cup.  Without much more than a second's thought I grabbed a camera and shot out the door.  It had a 300mm f/4 lens without the usual 1.4 extender, I usually keep on the rig, for getting uncooperative wildlife closer; this was a good thing.  I ended up using "The Wall" as support so I could get some kind of depth-of-field in the dim morning light.  In a matter of minutes I'd fired off nearly a hundred frames!  It was a young, male Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) hunting for bugs on a buck-rail fence. Hairy Woodpecker-juvenile - Wind River Canyon, WyomingHairy Woodpecker juvenile in the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.      Just as the Sun was searing the canyon's rim he gave me a memorable pose, his cute little head framed by the end-of-the-log.  In a matter of moments he was gone forever, but now he was mine.  The ISO was my wildlife favorite setting at 400, f/8 at an incredibly slow shutter speed of 1/80th!  As with any wildlife photography sharpness is very important.

     Last summer, also early in the morning in July, with the doors and screens open for cool Hairy Woodpecker, Mother & Son-Wind River Canyon,WyomingHairy Woodpeckers in Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. pine-scented mountain air, I heard a strange and unfamiliar squawk.  A camera was sitting close by, so I swung it around to see what all the noise was about.  And there to my astonishment was a mother Hairy Woodpecker feeding her son!  It was so early, and the light so dim, that the shoot was stressful; it was difficult to hold it all still.  One digital frame was my favorite, the moment she gave him a bug.  I've had more than one person ask me, "what are they doing?"  And I'm dying to tell them they're kissing.  

     During a boring football game, while nursing a bad back, a bird flew into the window I was sitting next to.  I slipped on my clodhoppers and ran out into the snow to find the victim.  She was face down in the fresh snow, her beautiful wings spread like an angel.  

Downy Woodpecker (f)-Wind River Canyon, WyomingDowny Woodpecker in Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.      With a knot in my stomach I picked her up, and she was miraculously alive.  It was a devastatingly gorgeous female Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), and her substantial neck saved her life; remember, she pounds holes in trees!  I held her close and brushed off the snow from her head and wings, she was a bit loopy from her crash, but she was fine.  This little gem clung to my sweatshirt with her talons, then made her way to my upper-back and fell asleep.  When she was ready to go she flew to a nearby juniper, where I photographed this delightful bird.  It's a wildlife memory I'll never forget.  

     One of the woodpeckers many people have seen in Wyoming is the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), in particular the Red-shafted Flicker, which is endemic.

     One frozen winter day, while our Sun was trying to warm up this "bottom-of-the-freezer," I Northern Flicker, Red-Shafted - Wind River Canyon, WyomingNorthern "Red-shafted" Flicker photographed in the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. spotted this familiar bird.  These woodpeckers are quite large and the reddish color under their wings is easy to spot while they are in-flight.  It was one of those moments in nature where all things in life come to a point.  It's one of my bird photographs that still gives me a grin.  I call him "The Sad Clown," but I don't know why.  

     Another picture of this native Wyoming bird was photographed from the top of a picnic table.  Who has time to run for a ladder?  And this is a good lesson when working out in the field with any wildlife; this may be the only chance you may have in your lifetime to photograph this wild animal.  Do what you must....just try not to fall off the picnic table.  My rule #2 is stay far away from things that could easily kill you. Northern Flicker, Red-shafted Flicker - Wind River Canyon, WyomingNorthern Flicker, "Red-shafted" - Photographed in Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.      I was told by a knowledgeable birder that the Down Woodpeckers aren't doing especially well, although they do seem to like the Wind River Canyon, but it's true we don't see many of these smallest of the woodpeckers.  We mostly hear woodpeckers hammering on trees in the canyon.  Not long after the Ides of March of this Spring I got an opportunity to photograph a male.  

     Outside getting warm in the sun with a camera in my lap, there he was.  He was so little, and my lens was so big (my coveted 300mm with the 1.4 extender).  He was on the shaded side of the tree and wouldn't sit still; busy drilling holes in my cedar tree.  I had to shoot at the widest f-stop I could to get any kind of shutter speed to freeze his action (f/5.6 - 1/320th).  It's a workout hand-holding this big rig, and image-stabilization is a godsend in these circumstances. Downy Woodpecker (m), Wind River Canyon, WyomingDowny Woodpecker (m) in Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.      The beaks of woodpeckers vary in size, even among the different sexes of the same species.  In this way they don't compete for the same food source; there, you learned something today.  

     That's really what my Wind River Canyon Blog is all about....learning a little something about Mother Nature's creatures.  Because, the more you learn about the marvelous wild animals of our Earth, the better their chance for survival.  

Writing, photography, digital darkroom by Michael John Balog - Hogbats Photography, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.

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