When I peered out of my window yesterday morning I noticed a female Great Spotted Woodpecker had finally returned to feed in my garden. I knew it was a female because it didn't have red on it's head.
It likes to hang around in my next door neighbour's tree and then swoop down to my fat ball, seed, nut or suet block feeder.
In this picture it's gently creeping along the branch towards my garden.
The Great Tit numbers in my garden are much better than I expected this year so hopefully I might have some nesting in my bird boxes next year. The holes in the nesting boxes were a bit too small last year, so I am going to make them a bit bigger over winter.
The Wood Pigeons are enjoying the last few grass seeds that havn't started growing yet. You may remember the field was ploughed a free weeks ago, but the grass is growing really well now, however I am a bit worried that the Redpolls, Fieldfare and Brambling won't return this year because there's 2 years of grass ahead of us. They seemed to like the bare earth and the potato plants over the last few years.
The Buzzard family were back in the field this morning enjoying some early sun. They are looking very healthy so they should have a good future.
the field really is sprouting nicely! your woodpecker is very handsome - or pretty since its a lady. :)
ReplyDeletegood to see your Woodpecker back, they are great to watch on the feeders, great post Findlay
ReplyDeleteI'd love to get a woodpecker on my feeders - fingers crossed - I always look forward to your posts - thank you for the lovely comment you left on my blog today, I'm not a famous painter I'm afraid - I just love to paint and birds are one of my favourite subjects, have a lovely day
ReplyDeleteLovely to see the Woodpecker Findlay...
ReplyDeleteI see them at Marbury but have never had one in the garden.
I did have a Sparrowhawk this afternoon though but I didn't have hold of my camera.
Extremely cool shots of your birds. That woodpecker is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteA really enjoyable post Findlay. Great stuff! I'm very envious of you having a field so close to your garden. It must bring some great birds actually into your garden! Do you keep a garden list? I'm not usually one for keeping lists, but I do keep an annual list of what I see in my garden, as I find it useful to keep a check on changes and trends.
ReplyDeleteI try and do a garden survey every now and then. I record the date, the time of day, the weather and which birds came into the garden in an hour. It's interesting to look back at. No owls yet though. From Findlay.
DeleteWe recently had our first Great Spotted Woodpecker in the garden as well and they are fantastic to watch. Be prepared to top up your feeders more regularly though!
ReplyDeleteGreat series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots of the woodpecker
ReplyDeleteI have Great tits on my balcony now. And they are hungry. And so are the Blue tits. :) Wishing you a great weekend.
ReplyDeletethe woodpecker is really pretty... we see them very rarely here
ReplyDelete