Great Spotted Woodpecker and chick
..Mrs W too, of course.
They’ve been working so hard over the last couple of weeks, the never ending relay to and from the bird table, collecting food for their chicks.
Mike’s bonfires have been banned. Ever since the wind blew the smoke down the valley and too close to the nest hole.
And it’s cost us a fortune in fat balls and nuts.
But this week we’ve had the reward. There are at least two chicks, one has a slightly more prominent red cap than the other.
Woodpeckers are nervous birds at the best of times. With chicks they are very wary indeed.
There is quite a bit of movement and the light over the past couple of days has not been great, so apologies if one or two of the images are a little blurred.
But they are such fun to watch, childlike and skittish, darting around between the branches.. getting in a spot of practice with that awesome beak.
We may have a few more holes in the trees than we did.
Fantastic!
The babies are very fluffy!
Oh you lucky thing! I do hope ours bring their offspring to the food, but I have my doubts. So lovely to see your pics – they’re fantastic. You think they’re blurry? You should see mine from today in the fog….embarrassing.
Fog gives you an excuse!
Oh WOW!!!! What a treat to get to watch such fantastic birds with their chicks…..I’m really jealous!
Awesome pics!xxxx
The birds are gorgeous.
Mike took most of the pictures, credit where credit is due!
How fortunate to be able to watch and photograph neighbourhood woodpeckers and offspring!
There’s more than one pair, they must find conditions right for them in the woods.
First time I’ve seen a woodpecker that close, as you rightly say they’re very nervous birds.
It’s odd that they are so nervous, in possession of such a beak. I wouldn’t care to have a woodpecker hammering on my skull should it have a mind to!
Lovely, lovely, lovely…I am sitting here, misting over and having a bit of a Bagpuss moment!
It is quite humbling seeing the babies, especially knowing how much work the parents have put into raising them.
Oh now I am jealous jealous jealous. Fantastic!
I hoped you would like this… it’s taken a bit of patience, sitting by the kitchen window, we took turns but it was Mike who struck lucky.
Lovely. I had to smile the other day as we had a mixture of house and tree sparrows and assorted chicks. It didnt matter which type had their beak gaping food was shoved in by any adult bird around. Apparently the RSPB want to know about cross breed feeding…..
They look so similar… perhaps even more so when all you can see is a gaping beak! You are lucky to have both, round here I see very few.
Fabulous! I am having a severe case of envy……..
Once they fledge the male seems to take over responsibility for the chicks, the female seems to be having a holiday.. I noticed the same thing last year.
That’s a lovely sight! Great photos too!
Thanks Simone. In the end Mike took the photos freehand (no tripod) because the birds were darting about so much. Considering how bad the light was, we were quite pleased with the results.
Wonderful photos! I am seriously jealous as I rarely see a woodpecker of any sort, despite my neighbour reporting them coming to her bird tables. Never seen a woodpecker chick – ever.
Your photos are Fab-U-Lous!!!!
Thanks Rambler! They can be very difficult to spot. If they see you first they will scoot round to the other side of a tree trunk and hide! But they do love suet or fat balls, in a hanging feeder. If the fat balls come in a net bag, remove this first though. Birds can get their feet tangled up in it.
Superb photos – aren’t they handsome. Lovely! Thanks for sharing. x
They are beautiful birds. Not always the most friendly, attacking smaller birds’ nests, but that’s nature I suppose!
Terrific pics of the Woodpeckers. It’s wonderful to see the fledglings – a success story after all that hard work by the parents.
Thanks Wendy. I was really looking forward to seeing them.
What wonderful photos Wendy. Nature repays us in spades in return for a little help, and you’ve certainly got your bonus with these sweet beauties. Keep enjoying them :o)
Rose H
x
Thanks Rose. We had a family of newly fledged blue tits tonight too. They are all a pleasure to see.
Great shots! What is the woven looking structure they are perched on? How lovely to watch them come and go. Here in the northeast of the US we had a few different species of woodpeckers. All fascinating. The pilleated is huge. Since I am fortunate to work outdoors I see quite a few. Never long enough to catch a great shot like yours !
Suzanne
The woven structure is a rustic (?) cone, presumably decorative, that sits atop the inherited bird table. The squirrels are in the process of destroying it! I came across the pilleated woodpecker whilst researching the Twirl-a-Squirrel. They are so big they are almost as heavy as a squirrel and could therefore set the twirler off themselves.
Oh, how gorgeous the little ones are – well done Mr and Mrs Woodrow! No wonder you have fun watching them:)
They are so cute Rosie, little fluffballs. They are flying really well already but even so, like your wrens, they seem so vulnerable when they are small.
Wow!! how wonderful 🙂
They are making me quite dizzy this morning, with all their flitting about!
fantastic shots
Thanks Elaine, it was worth the wait!
Oh lovely lovely lovely. Beautiful birds & great photos. Have you stuffed fat balls into the pyramid thingy ?
In the woods the woodpeckers are evident from the holes in a couple of dead trees ( why do they do that – is it to get woodlice I wonder ? ) but I’ve never seen one apart from the one time on my peanut feeder.
The fat balls are in hanging feeders. The pyramid is just a handy staging post!
They nest in holes in old trees as well.
How wonderful. I don’t think I’d get anything done all day if I had this little family in my garden, I’d be on constant watch for them.
This is absolutely the problem Jo… this morning I was watching one of the babies using the birds’ water bowl for a bath. So cute!
I’ve never seen a baby woodpecker before! Beautiful photos as always Julie x
Thanks Julie. Sweet aren’t they?
Beautiful birds they are, and super photos !
Thanks Willow!
What marvellous photos you have taken, whenever I try to photograph them on the feeders, its always of a back view flying away!
We’ve had to get them used to a camera poking through the kitchen window. After that it’s a long cable so we can stand well back! Thanks Pauline.
What fun – I don’t think I’ve ever seen them close up before. We have swallows in our barn and a robins’ nest somewhere in the garden wall. I must put a much bigger louder bell on Fabbydoo’s collar ! (our cat)
What a wonderful name for a cat!
Adorable photos of the woodpeckers. Have a good weekend.
Thanks! You too.
What a delight! And your pictures are perfect … were you really close or do you have a very long lens?
It’s a zoom lens, although not mega long. The birds have got used to us being fairly close to the window, but it still needs a tripod and a long cable attached to the camera, so that we can stand back. Thanks Annie.
It was lovely to see these beautiful birds, it must been wonderful watching them out of the window. I did wonder how you managed to get such good shots. If I see a bird from my window and try to grab my camera they fly away!
Sarah x
When we first saw the chicks we opened the kitchen window (and froze!) and set up the camera for a good while until they got used to it. I am discovering that wildlife photography is 1/4 skill and 3/4 patience and discomfort!!
Stunning. I get such a thrill when I see these birds around here. One often visits the telegraph poles (are they still called that?) on one of our allotments. And another turned up out of nowhere on the other allotment one late afternoon. So uplifting.
Hi Colleen and welcome to rusty duck!
I think they are still called telegraph poles. Our woodpeckers took to hammering on one of ours fairly intensively last year, before moving on to a dead oak with a bit more resonance. They are a great thrill to watch, and hear.
Beautiful! I do so love woodpeckers.
The babies are just so cute!
Many congratulations to both Woodrow and the photographer :}
And then there were three.. Mrs W is back now too, so woodpeckers everywhere. Not that I’m complaining.