Black woodpecker and other activities

Black woodpecker, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Star, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Birches, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Fence, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Branches, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Twigs, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Blurred, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

When going for a walk we heard quite a racket, and it didn't take long to find the reason: a black woodpecker was eagerly searching for food. And there were signs of her work visible elsewhere as well, for example in the second photograph.

I have been exploring motion blur quite a lot recently, and not only because the dimness makes sharp photographs hard to take these days. Here are some specimens - the last two are a bit different from the usual, having much more blur. I'm not sure whether I like the painterly effect, but this may be worth exploring as well.