Patience is the key

One thing that is a necessity in wildlife and birding photography is patience. It can be frustrating at times when you hear or see birds that you want to photograph in the distance and they don’t come in to your feeders or watering stations. Such is the case with this Northern Flicker. I have seen his tell tale what rump flashing around the woods for some time but he never visited my back yard. Realizing that he is more of an insectivore, with occasional seed eating, helped me out. An ant hill popped up in an inconspicuous spot of my backyard and I noticed he was coming closer, landing on trees in my yard, then flying off still not staying still long enough to go click. As time passed, he grew more comfortable seeing me in the back yard and finally, he came in to feed long enough for me to get some clicks. Patience is the key.