Monday, January 5, 2009

Catch me if you can

female hairy



This is a female Downy Woodpecker that was considering eating out of my hand a few weeks ago at the cabin. You should have seen me trying to position the camera in one hand and put seeds in the other to see if I could snap it. (I told my husband he really needs to start being available to take photos of me with my bird friends! ha,ha.) She flew over my hand several times but then decided to head over to the tree. I'm going to see if the Chickadees will vouch for me!

26 comments:

BirdingMaine said...

Keep trying Shelley! My wife has birds eating from her hands just about everyday, but I am at work, no one to run the camera.

Of course when I am home, they won't come near her.

John

jalynn01 said...

Any bird 'in hand' is worth 10 on the tree... I made that up but isn't it the truth. We always want to get them in our hands AND get the picture too. funny! I have a remote for my camera... you could set up a tirpod and have the remote in your hand and get it! Just a thought. Have a good day.

Anonymous said...

That's amazing! What a thrill that must have been. I hope you have a great Monday.

Mary said...

Oh, that would be wonderful! I've seen photos of chickadees eating out of hands, but have never tried it. Does sort of call for a helper to take the photos, doesn't it? Downys do seem fairly tame when they come regularly. Mine wait patiently for me to fill their suet feeder.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Shellry: I'm sure I woild be way to excited to let that happen.

Eve said...

Get that hubby out there Shelley! What a thrill that would be!

Leedra said...

Like the idea of the tripod and remote, in time. Get her eating real good and regular and the tripod would work. We will be waiting on the pics of that. In the meantime, just the photos of the bird are great.

Tina said...

Well, I have seen chickadees eating out of your hand and blue birds out of others but I can't wait to see a downy eating from your hand!! Good luck!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh Wow Shelley... Keep trying.. I'm sure they'll be eating out of your hands more and more. I've read that the more they feel comfy at their feeding area, the friendlier they'll be to the "hand that feeds them."

You need to train your hubby to be there to help!!!! ha ha ha
Hugs,
Betsy

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

That's quite a challenge,but you will figure it out.Ican't wait to see the pictures.
Blessings,ruth

Dave's Bird Watching Blog said...

A downy eating out of your hand...that would be great fun!

Still no snow down here in NC...

Peggy said...

I hope you get your downy! I've never tried to hand feed, but after all of the buzz, I might just have to try!

Jenny said...

She's a beauty Shelley, I'm sure your patience will be rewarded and I'll look forward to the results! (-:

Kim said...

I hope you get her to do it. I would love to see that photo!

Dawn Fine said...

Yikes Shelley...wouldnt that hurt! peck peck...blood blood..tee hee
hope you get the photo without any blood,

NCmountainwoman said...

I can't imagine why your husband wouldn't want to stand out there forever hoping the Downy will eat from your hand! Our Downys are quite tame, but I don't think I will try hand feeding them.

Shelley said...

John - Your wife is so lucky!!

Jalynn - thank you for the idea - sounds better than what I was doing - lol!

Mildred - i just love having the birds trust me enough to be a little close to me!

Mary - You'[re right about the downy being a patient one!

Fishing guy - of course I would spatter the photos all over my blog - lol!

Eve - I have to get him off his ATV - loL!

Leedra - thank you! I'm thinking I'm going to make some homemade suet and try to create an irrestible treat for them...

Tina - thank you - I need all the luck I can get!

Betsy - lol - training the hubby is the hard part! :)

Ruth - I hope one day soon....

Dave - it's suppose to snow in northern mich wed, thurs, fri and sat. I need to send some your way!

Hannibal - you'll probably have success before me! :)

Jenny - patience is the key - I need more of it! ha,ha

Kallen - it's starting out as a dream photograph in my mind...hopefully it becomes reality! :)

Dawn - ha,ha! I'll make sure to wear gloves!

NC - I may be able to get him to stand there for 5 minutes...probably not enough time to be successful - lol!

The Birdlady said...

Well, shoot! Maybe next time. You got a beautiful picture anyway.

Anonymous said...

That would be very cool to see. I hope you definitely get that shot someday to share with all of us. Its fun to get close and have the trust of the birds.

Gardener's Garden said...

How lucky that you found a Hairy, I've only seen two of these at my feeders and each time mistook the m for the Downey.

Anonymous said...

Great picture. Keep trying with the hand-feeding.

Mary C said...

Wow! First chickadees and now downies. Shelley, you're quite a birdwoman. You'll eventually get her to eat out of your hand. We have confidence in your ability.

Jayne said...

Now, THAT would have been a cool sight to see Shelley!

troutbirder said...

Nice shot! I think of my downy's as the true reliables at the suet feeder.

Connie said...

Well you caught him with the camera at least! So cute! :)

sandy said...

Some day... I'm going to work and work at it until I get one eating out of my hand. But first, I have to feed the birds again...

nice photo..