Wednesday 5 June 2013

Greater Spotted Woodpeckers feeding their chicks

Check out this video of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers feeding their chicks in our woodland! We had heard the woodpecker hollowing out a nest in this tree some weeks ago, but hadn't seen where it was. This weekend I was in the woods preparing logs for next winter, when I heard the chicks, from about 40m away as they were making so much noise as they were being fed! You'll be able to hear them in the video. Photos follow after the video...



Here's a woodpecker approaching the nest:
DSC_6603 Greater Spotted Woodpecker approaching nest

DSC_6604 Greater Spotted Woodpecker approaching nest

DSC_6605 Greater Spotted Woodpecker approaching nest

And here's one of them peeking out of the nest to check it's safe to leave:
DSC_6606 Greater Spotted Woodpecker leaving nest

Here's a close-up of the nest hole, taken with flash to illuminate some of the interior. It's on the underside of a branch and then turns a corner, so you can't see the chicks. Apparently woodpeckers normally drill sideways into a trunk and then downwards, but I guess this pair fancied a change!
DSC_6629 Entrance to Greater Spotted Woodpecker nest

Here's the logs I was processing for the woodburner ready for next winter:
DSC_6590 chainsaw and logs

DSC_6592 logs after chainsawing

I went home with a nice trailer load!
DSC_6594 Trailer load of logs

Mike

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