"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...
:
: In article , Peter Crosland
: writes
: All through the winter and into mid-summer I have the pleasure of seeing
: several greater spotted woodpeckers visiting my nut feeders each day.
About
: the end of July the adults and their youngsters disappear. Yesterday I
the
: first one I have seen for two months appeared. A friend who lives about
: twenty miles away has noted the same phenomena year after year. We both
live
: in Somerset in areas with mature woods and old orchards. Is this some
sort
: of short distance migration or has anybody got another explanation?
:
: It is quite normal behaviour, and not just for woodpeckers. The birds
: have moved out into nearby woodland to take advantage of the usual
: summer abundance of natural foods, and haven't needed to visit your
: feeders. Great Spots are largely insectivorous in summer but take
: increasing amounts of tree seeds especially from pine cones as they
: become available in the summer and autumn. They sometimes feed on the
: cones while they are green.
:
: --
: Malcolm Ogilvie

There's a dead tree in the road almost opposite my house and a Great Spot
has been making a hole. It was there for about 6 days and then disappeared,
so we thought it had abandoned it but it was seen again one day last week.
It seems a topsy turvy time for nest building.

K