Nesting woodpecker

[austino]

In the distance I could hear a constant chirping I guess 30 yards from my camp. I wondered over to where the noise was coming from and found it coming from a hole in a tree. I immediately stepped away and viwed from behind a tree 10 yards away. I could see the parent woodpeckers feeding the chicks, backwards and forwards suppling an ever ending supply of grubs etc. The chick I saw most of had a bright red head and nearly fell out the tree to be fed it looked really close to fledging with the amount of feathers it had. When I spoke to another woodland owner he said this was quite rare in woods in the E. Sussex area and I was very lucky to see this shy bird. Anyone else got any nesting woodpeckers.

[rogerspianocat]

We have a great spotted woodpecker nesting at the moment in a dead elm, which looks like it could fall down in a gentle breeze. Haven't seen the chicks - but have heard them. Don't know how common they are in the chilterns - hear them pecking quite a lot, so probably quite common. Exciting to see the nest in use though.

[Henrietta]

We certainly had a woodpecker in the woods during the winter as two big holes were pecked in the beehive. We had to cover the hive with a tarpaulin. It did work but the woodpecker still had a go at it, shredding it somewhat.

[Exeldama]

My parents are lucky enough to have green and greater spotted in their woods.. plus i picked up a lesser spotted this week all tangled in that netting people use to protect their veg...cut it out and off it went..

[docsquid]

We had at least two and probably three pairs of greater spotted woodpeckers nesting in our woods this spring. Despite having ample trees to choose from, one chose a tree right next to the road. We saw the parents coming and going and feeding the chick. Sadly, one of the parents was taken by a sparrowhawk, but the youngster was at the point of fledging and fortunately it made it from the nest, and could be heard calling in the surrounding trees.

A couple of years ago I got video of parents feeding a chick in a different tree.

This year I heard lesser spotted woodpeckers in the woods, and we have a green woodpecker that is nesting in a small copse adjacent to our newly planted wood, and coming down into the field to feed - heard and seen there this spring.

Still hear the great spotted drumming so maybe they are going for a second brood.

When we feed the birds during the winter, the great spotteds come down to the feeder from time to time.

Has anybody got any pictures of great spotteds or other woodpeckers we can use for the newsletter?

[tracy]

Mike got some nice pics in our woodland - although the birds do tend to be very high up so it is difficult to get the correct lighting and good quality.

http://www.flickr.com/search/[email protected]&q=woodpecker