Woodpecker grubbing on the pussy willow tree

Early this morning I was drinking my tea in bed and looking out of the window. This tree grows in our neighbours’ garden and is getting ever larger and its branched hang over our fence. It is a haven for wildlife, particularly birds, though squirrels do appear regularly. Each spring the yellow pussy willow flowers adorn its bare branches before the leaves grow and birds and bees flock to the nectar.

During the summer the vine I planted in our garden grows further into this tree, reaching up high through its branches. By late summer dark mauve grapes appear in sizeable bunches dotted throughout the leaves of the tree and now they are ripe and very attractive to blackbirds, pigeons, tits, goldfinches and male and female blackcaps. I’ve haven’t seen woodpeckers eating them but that may be because they are elusive.

The other very elusive species is the blackcap family. Today I saw three male blackcaps, easily differentiated from the female by the black tops of their heads, rather than the much lighter toned brown of the female. A little later I saw one female. They are very hard to photograph because they seem to hide within the dense proliferation of the various leaves, and the vine leaves are large. 

A bit later I decided to get my camera as the grapes would soon be eaten and the birds would not be around so much. By the time I was ready and had opened the window, closed the door to prevent Indy from leaping outside onto the external windowsill and thus onto the roof, the birds seemed to have gone.

I waited for ages and occasionally saw leaves moving slightly when birds alighted on a branch. The blackbirds were less evasive but still avoided my lens. Then I spotted a little further away, closer to the tree’s trunk, this Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). It was in a more open area and having walked up the branch it stopped and started digging its beak hard into the bark. It seemed to realise I was there and turned to look directly at me before flying away soon after.

I blipped a similar scene on nearly the same date two years’ ago, possibly on the same branch. Then I worked out it was digging for a grub under the bark which I finally saw in my blip. Then I had many minutes watching the process from a slightly closer vantage point of my study window.

The blackcaps didn’t appear again whilst I was waiting, so I think the woodpecker's eyes deserve to be seen here.