New home for the Woodpecker
24th March 2025
A nice sunny morning with light winds
Back on the 3rd March I noticed a Great Spotted Woodpecker high up on the trunk of a large tree and on closer inspection I discovered that it was actually at the entrance to a hole in the tree trunk. I thought at first that it had been excavating it but after examining the following photographs I managed to take at the time, other than around the perimeter of the hole there didn't seem to be any freshly excavated wood, the interior appearing quite dark and dull, so I assume this was a previous years nest hole. Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been heard actively drumming away quite frequently in this area over recent weeks so there was a good chance that this one would have been looking for a home. I'm not sure if they would use a previous years nest but it was certainly taking an interest in this one for some reason.
Great Spotted Woodpecker at a nest hole, 3rd March 2025
The hole appears to be an old one, 3rd March 2025
This morning as I walked past that same tree, I was able to take this photograph showing a freshly excavated hole just 12 inches or so below and slightly left of the original one. In comparison to the earlier photographs, the interior of this new hole has clearly been freshly excavated.
There was, however, no obvious sign of any Great Spotted Woodpecker activity in the area this morning, nothing to be seen or heard, so I will be keeping a close eye on this for any developments.
The freshly excavated hole just a few inches below the previous one
As I walked further along the footpath I noticed this Reed Bunting perched on a bush directly in front of me but initially it was facing away and so I stood there patiently, urging it to turn around, which fortunately it did for a brief moment, allowing me to capture this photograph before it flew away.
Canon R5, RF200-800, 1/1000sec at F9, ISO 2500
I always enjoy photographing Little Egret because they offer so many opportunities for creating different types of images. They can be high key, low key, and quite often very artistic as Little Egret can appear small and hunched up or stretched out to their full extent with their long necks appearing contorted.
On this occasion we have a familiar Little Egret stance, highlighting the delicate white plumes on the chest and back as it takes what appears to be a small fish from the water.
Canon R5, RF200-800, 1/1000sec at F9, ISO 800
