Red-Bellied Woodpecker

I guess my new found birding skill is still with me. I think the new camera deserves a lot of the credit for this one. I watched as this red-bellied woodpecker flew from tree to tree high up in the forest without ever imagining that I might be able to get a picture. This kind of thing is much easier now, so I got three of them.

I specifically picked a point and shoot camera, and not a DSLR, because I thought it would be quicker for animal photography. I don't have to change lenses or set many manual settings, although I can. All I have to do is zoom in and try to point the camera at my target. It's proving very convenient so far.

This is the very first red-bellied woodpecker I've ever seen, so it took me awhile to identify it. Most birds are still new to me, mainly because there are just so many different kinds. I was really never able to get pictures like this before, so I didn't attempt to do it very often.

This woodpecker was so far away that I could barely see it. I had to wait for any movements on the side of the trees. Usually a woodpecker would identify itself by its loud knocking on the side of the trees, but this one wasn't doing it enough for me to know this was the one. I just knew it was a bird and I wanted it.

As you can see by this last picture, this bird has a very red head. If you're wondering where it gets its name from, you might want to expand the first picture and take a closer look. It's not easy to see, but you can see the red on its belly in that one.

This is one of many birds I've been surprised to have gotten recently. There will be more to come as soon as I can organize everything. I'm not good at that part. I usually do all of this in a very chaotic way. I even write my posts at the very last minute. I guess it keeps everything I say natural that way.

On Nature Center Magazine today there is a news story that I wrote myself, even though all news goes under the magazine name. The story isn't something I usually like putting on there, because it's kind of a gruesome one. It's about an incident that happened in 2005 between a pack of black squirrels and a dog. It's a very interesting bit of news, but it's not pretty at all!