Green woodpecker pecking around my garden

I was lucky enough to have been able to photograph a woodpecker today. She had flown into our garden many times in the past but today was the first time I had such a clear opportunity to take a photo. This green woodpecker has always been quite nervous and rightly so, as our cat Cookie had caught her twice before, where on both occasions she had manage to escape so usually any sudden movements set her flying.

We know this is a female green woodpecker as males have a red streak along the lower part of their cheeks.

Their favourite food is ants so often she is on our lawn digging for ants. It was quite funny watching her dig for ants as she kept pecking the ground and flinging bits of dirt everywhere and it reached a point where her beak was muddy and clogged up with dirt, as you can see in the photo below. I watched her fly up to a tree in my neighbour’s garden and rub her face along the bark to remove the dirt.

She then flew back down to nab some more ants. Later, a pidgeon walked around the woodpecker a few times, as if he was checking her out. She had her head deep in a hole, eating and to my great amusement, the pidgeon imitated her! A few pecks on the grass, not liking what he found, he waddled away.

I love looking at woodpeckers; they look so different to other birds in the garden, with their greens, golden yellows and that beautiful red colour across their heads. They have a very obvious cry as well, sounds a bit like someone laughing. In summer and autumn, I hear a lot of woodpecker calls around my area. In weather like this, they sure are a cheery sight.

Oh and this is a little something I played around with when I left shutter release on.

Another bird I keep seeing around is the blackbird. Lately, they seem to be pairing up as black males dance across our garden with brown females in tow. Blackbirds have really good vocals and are known as song birds.