Saturday, 7 June 2014

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker................................ on my peanut feeder

I have had a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker on the feeders recently.
I saw it early yesterday morning while I was getting ready for work.


I was off work this morning but still got up early (5.20 am) to set up the camcorder on a tripod.
I spook birds just moving close to the window so I left the camcorder running and went back inside.
Rain was forecast so I didn't go back to bed... luckily for me after about half an hour this juvenile appeared.

 Juvenile GSW have a red patch on their crown...
...adult males have a black crown and red nape patch....adult females heads have no red at all.

It stayed on the feeder for over quarter of an hour but not always in frame... I captured around ten minutes of usable video... this little clip is only about a minute long.
 I was so glad I hadn't gone back to bed as not long after it had flown off and I had brought my kit back inside... we had a thunder storm.

Linking to The Bird D'pot,  Our World Tuesday and Wild Bird Wednesday

25 comments:

Anni said...

Oh my gosh....another incredible video. If I were you, I'd been late to work with a spectacle like this in my yard.

Thanks for linking this weekend Andrew.

TexWisGirl said...

i think it is neat their their red forehead grows to black as they mature.

Brian King said...

Even the juvenile is a handsome guy!

Karen said...

Oh wow Andrew, what a great video!

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Never thought about setting it up and leaving it running. Very smart.

Kay L. Davies said...

Fabulous results, Andrew. He sure seemed to be loving that peanut feeder, and I sure enjoyed watching him at it.
K

John J said...

Up until very recently I've struggled to attract much bird life into my garden - the contents of the bird feeders just ended up going horribly rotten.
A couple of months ago I spent some money on different (and more expensive = better!) types of feed - and it's worked. I've not got a huge variety of birds (yet) but the garden and feeders are certainly attracting birdies at long last.
I'll post some pics on my blog when I get my finger out!
JJ

Bob Bushell said...

Very brilliant video Andrew.

Christian Perrin said...

Video is a good way to watch a bird behave naturally and not always with one eye on the human with the camera/binoculars. I love Woodpeckers and saw this and the Green species often when I lived in London - surprised that they live in the suburbs! Thanks for sharing :)

The Herald said...

A lovely visitor to your garden and anexcellent video Andrew...Worth getting up early for!!...[;o)

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

You really took a chance with your equipment, but it paid off with this great clip. The GSW greatly resembles those of the North American Picoides genus (which includes the Hairy Woodpecker). An example of convergent plumage evolution or might they be closer relatives than the taxonomic classification suggests? I guess DNA will settle this.

Ela said...

Really excellent video !

Betsy Brock said...

How fun to have that woody in your yard! I have a little downy that comes occasionally. Always fun! I've come from Anni's today and it's so great to meet you!

Saun said...

This is too cool! Do you have problems with the squirrels attacking the feeder?


Grtbluheronblogspot .com

Pantherka said...

Andrew wonderful, amazing video.

Sylvia K said...

What an incredible video, Andrew!! It is amazing indeed! Thank you so much for sharing!!

mick said...

Great piece of video of the woodpecker on the peanut feeder. I always enjoy hearing the other birds close by as well.

eileeninmd said...

I love the video and the cute woodie..Have a happy week!

carol l mckenna said...

Glad to see you 'hangin out' with such colorful 'feathered friends' and sharing such an active and colorful video with OWT ~ ^_^

artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

Findlay Wilde said...

A really nice garden visitor to have and watch. We get one every now and then, but never when my camera is ready. From Findlay

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Andrew That video today is fantastic. It was wonderful to see the juvinile Woodpecker.

A Colorful World said...

How fortuitous that you were able to capture him on film!

A Colorful World said...

He's just wonderful! I enjoyed watching him peck away at the holes in the feeder.

Stewart M said...

Splendid looking bird - The fire and forget method of video would have been a bit pricey in the time of film!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Anonymous said...

What a great-looking bird. I like the video showing him attacking those peanuts with gusto!