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Loony Woodpeckers
Now getting several visits a day from a group of 2 adult and 2 junior
greater spotted woodpeckers. The juniors are about the same size as the adults, they just look a little fatter, and have almost the same colouring. They all land on a pergola from which a peanut feeder hangs. Then the adults, which I think are a male and a female, take it in turns to headbang for peanuts, fly back up to the top of the pergola and feed one of the youngsters. I've noticed that each adult feeds a single juvenile and there's no clamouring from the one not being fed, they both wait patiently for the respective adult to feed them. They've managed to slightly buckle the feeder but no serious damage done (yet). If the rain stops and the glass clears in the windows I might get a photo but they seem extremely alert to the slightest movement so no chance of opening a window. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from Swansea Bay. Dave's at that end; I'm at this end. Bill G's in the middle. Come to think of it, where is Bill G these days? |
Loony Woodpeckers
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Loony Woodpeckers
Had a good laugh this morning when one of the little
blighters tried to climb the hanginh feeder pole that I smothered with some old vaseline I found at the back of the garage cupboard, he got half way up, then slowly slid back down twice before giving up! -- Roger T 700 ft up in Mid-Wales Sliding - and woodpeckers. I've one of those inexpensive bird feeder holders from Aldidls - a steel pole with arms type. Last year a young woodpecker did just the same trying to get onto one of the feeders and slid all the way down the pole clearly wondering what was going on and how to get out of it - it ended up in a mess on the ground and disappeared in a flurry of puzzled feathers. Rob |
Loony Woodpeckers
On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:55:49 +0100, Jake
wrote: Now getting several visits a day from a group of 2 adult and 2 junior greater spotted woodpeckers. The juniors are about the same size as the adults, they just look a little fatter, and have almost the same colouring. We are lucky enough to have two species of woodpeckers, the very handsome Green variety which only visits the front garden and the GSWs which only visit the back. The Greens feed solely from the large number of ant nests in the front lawn whereas the GSWs hammer away at the peanut feeder and fat cake on the rear lawn feeder array. The male GSW has a distinctive red patch on the back of its head, juveniles have a noticeable red cap which fades as they get older (unlike the Greens who keep their red cap) and the adult female has no red markings on the head. -- rbel |
Loony Woodpeckers
On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 20:10:56 +0100, rbel wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:55:49 +0100, Jake wrote: Now getting several visits a day from a group of 2 adult and 2 junior greater spotted woodpeckers. The juniors are about the same size as the adults, they just look a little fatter, and have almost the same colouring. We are lucky enough to have two species of woodpeckers, the very handsome Green variety which only visits the front garden and the GSWs which only visit the back. The Greens feed solely from the large number of ant nests in the front lawn whereas the GSWs hammer away at the peanut feeder and fat cake on the rear lawn feeder array. The male GSW has a distinctive red patch on the back of its head, juveniles have a noticeable red cap which fades as they get older (unlike the Greens who keep their red cap) and the adult female has no red markings on the head. That's what was mystifying me - both the adults have a noticeable red head (as do both the juveniles). Maybe I've got a gay couple! Or two related males who are leaving the females to their knitting while they get on with the knocking? Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling from Swansea Bay. Dave's at that end; I'm at this end. Bill G's in the middle. Come to think of it, where is Bill G these days? |
Loony Woodpeckers
"Jake" wrote in message ... On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 20:10:56 +0100, rbel wrote: On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:55:49 +0100, Jake wrote: Now getting several visits a day from a group of 2 adult and 2 junior greater spotted woodpeckers. The juniors are about the same size as the adults, they just look a little fatter, and have almost the same colouring. We are lucky enough to have two species of woodpeckers, the very handsome Green variety which only visits the front garden and the GSWs which only visit the back. The Greens feed solely from the large number of ant nests in the front lawn whereas the GSWs hammer away at the peanut feeder and fat cake on the rear lawn feeder array. The male GSW has a distinctive red patch on the back of its head, juveniles have a noticeable red cap which fades as they get older (unlike the Greens who keep their red cap) and the adult female has no red markings on the head. That's what was mystifying me - both the adults have a noticeable red head (as do both the juveniles). Maybe I've got a gay couple! Or two related males who are leaving the females to their knitting while they get on with the knocking? lol -- -- http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/ |
Loony Woodpeckers
On 16/06/2012 12:55, Jake wrote:
Now getting several visits a day from a group of 2 adult and 2 junior greater spotted woodpeckers. The juniors are about the same size as the adults, they just look a little fatter, and have almost the same colouring. They all land on a pergola from which a peanut feeder hangs. Then the adults, which I think are a male and a female, take it in turns to headbang for peanuts, fly back up to the top of the pergola and feed one of the youngsters. I've noticed that each adult feeds a single juvenile and there's no clamouring from the one not being fed, they both wait patiently for the respective adult to feed them. They've managed to slightly buckle the feeder but no serious damage done (yet). If the rain stops and the glass clears in the windows I might get a photo but they seem extremely alert to the slightest movement so no chance of opening a window. For such a hefty bird that scares everything else off the feeder they are surprisingly nervous of any changes. They will eventually bend the wire enough to get whole peanuts out and consumption will rocket. Clean the window carefully and set the camera up in advance with a black cloth wrapped around it to avoid major reflections. The rarer lesser spotted woodpecker is even more fun. Think sparrow in the same colour scheme and livery as the big one. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Loony Woodpeckers
"Jake" wrote [...] The male GSW has a distinctive red patch on the back of its head, juveniles have a noticeable red cap which fades as they get older (unlike the Greens who keep their red cap) and the adult female has no red markings on the head. That's what was mystifying me - both the adults have a noticeable red head (as do both the juveniles). Maybe I've got a gay couple! Or two related males who are leaving the females to their knitting while they get on with the knocking? Nooo, not knitting... they do tapestry. ;) -- Sue |
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