Sometimes a bad pic is better than no pic.

[Paul]

Monday Morning, my wife comes running into the bedroom hysterical because there is this "HUGE" birding hanging my feeders,. So here I am sound asleep, awaken from a nice dream about the new 7d and now i have to find my glasses and run into the dining room in my underwear before this "Huge" bird vanashis. And much to my surprise it was a HUGE bird a Huge Pilieated woodpecker, probably the larges woodpecker I have ever seen and it was in my back yard in low light, 120 feet from the house on the other side of a window, taken handheld with no flash, tripod, monopod or clothing and here is what I got:

[JohnK]

It's kind of an exciting bird to see in the wild, isn't it Paul? We get them around here, but usually when the light is really poor.

I agree, sometimes a bad pic is better than no pic. I got this shot of a black bear outside my back door last summer. I saw the bear the night before out front and was out looking for tracks in the morning, when I came back in the house I saw this big guy out the back door. I grabbed a Panasonic FZ30 and got a quick burst. There are a couple other shots in the burst, but these are the only photos I've been able to get of the bears around here, so even though they're not very good I've kept them.

[MN Shutterbug]

The pileated is at the top of my list of "must shoot" birds. I hope to close the chapter on that book this winter. The other annoying bird at the top of my list, and I see them quite often, is the kestrel. I may have to try sneaking up on one by belly crawling thru a ditch with my ghillie suit on. At least, I'll have something on.

[panthrcat]

The pileated is at the top of my list of "must shoot" birds. I hope to close the chapter on that book this winter. The other annoying bird at the top of my list, and I see them quite often, is the kestrel. I may have to try sneaking up on one by belly crawling thru a ditch with my ghillie suit on. At least, I'll have something on.

you have a ghillie suit??? how lucky are you?? I want one!!!

I have plenty of shots of stuff that is less than perfect,,

[Jim Uran]

120 feet from the house on the other side of a window, taken handheld with no flash, tripod, monopod or clothing and here is what I got

Thank God there was no reflection off that window

Cool birds, I see quite a few of them around my place. They never sit still for very long either.

[ThunderLund78]

I grew up in the Minnesota River Valley just north of Henderson. My parents still live there and I deer hunt there every year. I see piliated woodpeckers quite frequently in the woods in that area and they're always hanging around my moms feeders. Plenty of public land in the area so if you're looking for a photo expedition it would be a good place to start.

[Spearing Machine]

The pileated are not too rare in the central parts of the state. If you want capture a few just drive around near brainerd or little falls.

[MN Shutterbug]

I've made contact with a couple people by Dent, which is east of Pelican Rapids, and one lady will let me know as soon as they start frequenting her feeders on a daily basis this winter.