Yellow bellied sapsucker

Yellow bellied sapsucker near Chehalis, Washington

One of the reasons I encourage photographers to travel is because there is a myriad of new things and experiences to enjoy.  You don't have to go far, but the benefit of greater distance is an increased chance something unfamiliar will appear.  Birding is a good example of this.  Around my house, there are maybe fifty species of birds, but on any one day, I may see only five or six.  Most of those are the same ones I see each day.  Robins, towhees, crows, juncos, chickadees and song sparrows are the most frequent.  If I travel a few miles from home I stand a better chance of seeing something slightly different.  Herons, blackbirds, eagles, kingfishers, ravens, and pigeons are all frequent sightings.

Out of the city towards the more rural areas less familiar birds start to appear.  Yellow rumped warblers, green herons, golden crowned kinglets, varied thrushes, and red breasted sapsuckers start to show up.  I have seen some of these around my house, but rarely.  The chance of seeing one of these on any day is remote.  So, by traveling modest to significant distances from home, there is a good probability that I will come across something unusual.  It may be commonplace for locals, but for me, it is new and exciting.

At this moment we are camping in Chehalis, Washington.  I go on walks every day; some of them are significant treks.  I have seen a variety of birds, many of them familiar.  Given the fact that I am in the same temperate rainforest with much of the same vegetation as I have at home, I am not too surprised.  However, I came across a yellow bellied sapsucker the other day.  I have never seen that bird at home at all and only ever seen one once before.  The one I came across was a juvenile and did not have its full adult markings.  Still though, it was an exciting moment.

I did not have my DSLR camera with me, as I was shooting insects at the time.  I did, however, have my bridge camera; a Panasonic FZ2500 with a 460 mm (relative) zoom lens.  It actually does a pretty good job given its small sensor, and I managed to capture a dozen or so images before the bird flit off to hunt for a meal elsewhere.  Of those, the best one was the one I chose above.  It required significant cropping and some sharpening before it was useable.  It helped me identify the species, as I was not originally sure what I had just photographed.

I have seen a few other species since then.  I photographed a scrub jay and shot an excellent image of a song sparrow with a beak full of squirming bugs.  We will be leaving in two days, and I hope to come across some other unusual finds before we go.  Better though, we are heading for south Washington's coast where I hope to hit the avian jackpot.  I'll let you know.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com