Thursday, June 24, 2010

Hiding in Plain Sight


Hiding in Plain Sight, originally uploaded by Winged Wench.

Brown Creepers: Can you hear them, let alone see them? The only other bird that compares in this difficulty to "hear and see" category for me is waxwings. I used to focus on the spot where I heard them, hoping against hope that I would catch one in my sights. Well, that was then, and might I add: just plain stupid, overzealous, and obsessive. Then came the day, as I was walking along, always camera in hand-out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash. Following this flash to a tree, I'm looking and looking, and I couldn't see a thing. Suddenly a slight sense of movement, and there it was! (Well, I get excited about these things! And THAT's an understatment.) Something that might be helpful in the future for anyone else trying to photograph, or catch sight of, these elusive birds-they fly to the bottom the tree, then climb up it, eating/catching bugs as they go. When they reach the top of that tree, they fly to the next, and again, start at the bottom, and go up. They do not walk down. So if you hear them fly by, look to the bottom of the trees in the vicinity. And good luck! They are very hard to spot, even when you have the picture right in front of you as this picture proves.

3 comments:

Ken Schram said...

Is it wearing a moss colored liesure suit? I don't see anything but tree bark.

Lisadawn Schram said...

Basically, yes, only it is more accurately described as a bark camo suit. Keep looking. I'm not going to outline it for you. Let me know when you find it.

Isom said...

I left a comment on your Flickr site about this photo too. I spotted this little guy quite easily *once* I knew to look for him. Otherwise, I'd not have noticed.

His feathers are a bit darker than the top layer of bark & has a more detailed pattern so jumps out at me easier. Suffice to say he's huddled down, beak pointing up, on the right side of the truck about 2/3 ways up.

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