Now, we only have three types of woodpecker in the UK. Great Spotted, Lesser Spotted and Green. I don't think I've ever seen a Lesser; I have seen Greens from time to time but by far our most common is the Great Spotted Woodpecker (GSW). If you hear drilling sounds in the woods, that's probably who it will be.
When we moved here, there were certain birds I hoped I might see, I hadn't even thought about woodpeckers until one day, one turned up on the tree outside my window!
May 8th 2022
There was a male dangling from a nut feeder, right outside my window, I was so excited to be able to see one of these so close.
We have now become accustomed to having them around even when we're out in the garden when they sometimes make their angry chirp sound. They now feed up at our feeders to take away to their young in nests somewhere reasonably nearby and, when they're old enough, bring the young to feed themselves.
The young birds all show the full red cap which then either fades on females or remains at the nape of the neck on males.
Female
Male
They are very funny birds to watch, especially when they know you are around, they'll hide behind a tree trunk or branch and peek around to check you are still there.
There must be quite a lot of them on the patch now and they are very territorial, squabbling if two males meet for example, running up and down tree trunks and chasing until one flies off. Having them so close means i have a LOT of images of them.
