Fauxto Friday – Flick Yeah! I Finally Got the Shot!

I’ve been sinking deeper into my love for nature photography over the past 5 years, and I’ve written “wish lists” of the shots I’m still hoping to get. The American Bald Eagle was at the top of the list for a long time. I got a few shots of one during a trip through Yellowstone National Park in 2017, but they were from a moving vehicle while the eagle was in flight.

Even though I’d technically gotten the shot, there was too much motion to feel satisfied with it. I kept the Eagle at the top of the wish list. As a kid, Bald Eagles were very rare and you only ever saw one in a sad zoo setting. Thanks to the establishment of The Endangered Species Act of 1973, and its placement as one of the first species on the list, the population of Bald Eagles rebounded so greatly it was removed from the list in 2007. A couple years after that, we started seeing them sporadically flying through the skies of Central Illinois.

I was constantly scanning the trees along the river and the roadways, hoping to catch sight of an Eagle perched among the branches. I kept my mind positive and believing I would see one. And then it happened. One day in January of 2021, as my husband and I were driving up the road to our house, my spidey sense started to tingle and my brain whispered to me “eagle, eagle, eagle” right before I saw it.

Sitting on the branch of a maple tree overlooking our neighbor’s pond was a giant bird staring down at the water. Even though I “felt” I would see him, I was still surprised by his presence. I crept as close as I could and snapped this shot before he flew away…

So many tree branches to contend with, but there he was! I went inside the house, feeling pretty good about checking him off my photo wish list, and then I heard a racket of caws coming from the backyard. The Eagle was back! He had a fish clutched in his talons, and a murder of crows was hoping to steal it from him. (I love an opportunity to say murder of crows.) The birds were all a good 50 yards away, but after seeing the size of those Eagle talons, I was fine with keeping my distance. It was a beautiful scene to behold.

But that photo op isn’t the subject of this little story it’s a different bird from my wish list – the Northern Flicker.

Flickers are so beautiful, but they’re also easily spooked. I would see them in my backyard, but always at a fair distance. Even the slightest movement would send them flying away. They’re in the Woodpecker family, but much more timid than other species like this Red-Bellied Woodpecker and this Hairy Woodpecker who don’t mind coming a bit closer to my lens.

The Flickers I would see in my backyard generally stayed on the ground close to a tree, so I would set up my Tragopan photo blind nearby and wait patiently for them to arrive. But they must have sensed something was off and never landed anywhere near me. I didn’t give up on getting a good picture of one, and filed it in the “One Day it Will Happen” folder in the back of my mind.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago… Spring had sprung and the weather was starting to warm up. Yay! Warm weather = more time outdoors with a camera! I was all too happy to open up the windows for some fresh air, even the one that had no screen in it. Then I heard something familiar… the call of a Northern Flicker.

I ran to grab my camera and started scanning the ground for a sign the Flicker was still around. Lo and behold, I caught sight of him just as he flew from the farthest part of the yard up to an oak tree only a few yards away… like he was saying in a flash of yellow feathers, “Here I am! Here I am!” These birds are really something to behold when they’re in flight. Your brain needs a moment to process what it’s seeing with all those patterns and colors “flickering” in the sky.  

The Flicker graciously sat on branch for three minutes for me, tilting his head from side-to-side as if he were trying to find the perfect pose. I could barely contain my joy as I snapped away. Looking at the display on the back of my Nikon, I was thrilled with the beautiful photos I’d just taken. Then I uploaded them to my computer and felt much less enthused.

It was too dark. It was too far away. There were too many branches mucking up the shot, especially the one blocking the Flicker’s head. Aargh!! I felt myself falling into a familiar negative thinking pattern where I berate myself for not knowing absolutely everything in the history of photography and doubt the skills I’ve acquired from a lifetime of taking photos. But I know in life, there’s always a balance determined by your own perspective. In this case, my “garbage” picture was giving me an opportunity to play in Photoshop to make the image in my camera match the image in my mind.

Is it the photo I’d dreamed of capturing? No, not entirely. I would have preferred to be closer, to have no obstructions, to have perfect lighting. But I was content enough with my work to consider this bird officially captured and ready to move on to the next spot on my wish list – the Cedar Waxwing. But then something amazing happened!

A few days ago as I passed the same window, I saw a larger bird flying up from the backyard to my favorite Maple tree close by. When it landed, I gasped loudly – completely shocked by what I saw gripping the trunk… a Pileated Woodpecker!! I have never seen one in the wild, let alone in my own backyard. Once again, I ran for my camera praying he would still be there when I returned. And he was! But… my battery was dead, and I missed the shot.

For two seconds, I was heartbroken over this missed opportunity. But then I flipped my perspective. I had no idea these birds were nearby! But now that I do know, my wish list is longer and my heart is filled with faith that I’ll see one again… and hope that my battery will be fully charged.