Great shots, Randy! I think Flickers are such interesting-looking birds.

I do wonder if they are shy and might avoid contact with other birds We do have flickers here or at least one flicker. I see it almost every day, but it doesn't come when there are a lot of other birds around and I never see two flickers together.

You still have a lot of snow. Ours is almost gone (and I am not complaining).

Dawn

Those are lovely pics, Randy. I haven't seen one in my yard for several months. But I did see the yellow-bellied sapsucker at the suet cake today. This is only the second or third time this winter I've seen him. ANd a female hairy woodpecker yesterday. The Downy and Redbellied pairs are there every day, but this is the first hairy I've seen this winter.

Are the out of focus red blobs in the tree behind the feeder Cardinals? Or just late leaves?

I think they are pretty shy. It usually stays on the back of the property and I've never seen two at once.

In the first pic that is a chimney cap and the brown things are sycamore fruit. I can see where you would think it's a feeder though. :-)

Great shots! Looks like you are enjoying that new camera.

Randy, as a fellow Photographer(Portrait), I have to ask what your setup consists of. I tried to cheat and look at the EXIF data but there was no information. You have some really nice wildlife shots.

Roger

Thanks everyone.

Sandy,

Things are starting to click. :-) Pun intended. I knew DSLR would be a challenge. Especially if you decide to stay away from a lot of the auto settings. I've learned a lot in the last 2 months making myself do most of my shots in manual mode.

Roger,

Thanks. I use a Canon 50D with the 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM lens.

Both photos were cropped and shot hand held.

First one was shot at 1/100 F9 500 @ 400mm

Second was 1/100 F6.3 160 @ 400mm

randy

The IS on that lens is amazing. I can't imagine 100th/sec at 400mm hand held. I've been eye balling that lens for quite some time. 95% of what I shoot are portraits so my 70-200 2.8 IS is my most used lens. I shoot everything in Av. Background blur(Bokeh) is just as important to me as the subject matter. Try again wide open at 4.5 and you will see what I'm talking about. Sorry everybody for taking this thread OT.

Randy, I tried to respond yesterday, but gardenweb wouldn't let me log in.

What great pictures. I have only seen two flickers here before. I don't know why we don't have more. They are magnificent birds.

Roger,

Taking an off topic off topic is no biggie. I appreciate your input. Been playing a lot with aperture settings the past week to see the effects it has on different situations.

Would love to have the 70-200 for my daughter's gymnastics. Probably get a macro lens before that one though.

I did quite a bit of research before investing in this lens. A lot of people don't like it and say it's soft. But a bunch of professionals love it and use little else for wildlife.

I think if a complete rookie like me can get decent shots with it, it's a great lens.

Thanks Glenda. I may have to get a suet feeder to encourage it to visit the house more often.

randy