bird photography : northern flicker

John and Beth happened upon this Northern Flicker while returning from a day of birding at Huntley Meadows Park. That this is a yellow-shafted variety of Northern Flicker is quite obvious from the photograph.

Equipment: Canon EOS 30D Canon EF 300mm f4L IS with 1.4x Teleconverter Settings: f8; 1/80 sec.; focal length at 420 mm; ISO 200 Date: May 27, 2006 10:08 am Location: Huntley Meadows Park / Fairfax County, VA Photography Notes: Though the shutter speed is less than optimal for this photograph--John had been shooting ducks and sandpipers in more direct sun when he turned to capture these images (and thus had his settings out-of-whack for the more diffuse lighting on the flicker), the image is relatively sharp thanks to Canon's IS technology and the use of a monopod.