Great Spotted Woodpecker – Kenworthy Woods
Over the past few weeks the distinctive call of the male Great Spotted Woodpecker has been an addition to our back garden dawn chorus. With the sunflower seeds rapidly disappearing a bit of detective work followed by a quiet walk around the woods led me to this year’s nesting hole.
Wasn’t too difficult to find. The presence of the female Great Spotted Woodpecker confirmed my suspicions.
Interesting to watch both birds and their nesting duties in action. Typically the male bird lands on the tree close to the nest and calls the female.
The female emerges and he’s nowhere to be seen…….
Perched up in a nearby tree the male spots the female.
A split second later he arrives and she’s gone. He calls again ……….
The female woodpecker emerges and a gust of wind blows a branch across just as the male is about to pass her a tasty morsel ..
The female takes the grub and reaches into the nesting hole to feed the chicks.