Great Spotted Woodpecker is not a common bird in our garden, and rarely visits outside of the summer months. We'd had just 45 sightings this year up until the beginning of December, with 42 being in the summer and 3 in October. We were, therefore, quite excited when a G S Woody arrived briefly in our garden whilst we were having breakfast on 5th December.
I'd not got my camera, and the light was awful, anyway, so no images were obtained.
After breakfast, whilst sitting in my study, I chanced to look up into the Rowan tree outside my window and spotted a Green Woodpecker. This is a garden 'life bird' for us! I only count birds that put a foot down in the garden. Sadly, it only stayed for a few seconds after I spotted it, and then departed. I only managed some record shots in that short time - my camera is always beside me when I'm at my desk, and usually 'primed' ready for action.
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| Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) (female) - our garden |
Needless to say, from then on, I was keeping one eye on the Rowan. About an hour after the Green Woody, I noticed activity high up in the Rowan - there were three Mistle Thrush going for the berries. These were a first for the year. I've been keeping daily records for the garden since the beginning of 2009, and this is only the third year we've had Mistle Thrush - the others being 2013 and 2015. I rushed upstairs so that I could get a better view, and some shots, and the sun started breaking through just at the right moment. Although this bird was only about 8 metres away, I was shooting through double-glazing at an acute angle of around 30°, so the results are not as good as I'd have wished.
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| Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) - our garden |
Whilst shooting the thrushes from upstairs, I suddenly noticed a Hedgehog coming away from one of our hedgehog houses (we have three). A hedgehog out in daylight is usually not a good sign so, suddenly, the thrushes became of secondary interest and I went down to investigate.
It seems that the hedgehog had suddenly felt hungry as it was grubbing around under the leaves. I put out some tasty morsels for it, some of which it consumed before heading to one of the drinking bowls that I put out for the hedgehogs. After a drink it headed back to its house. I did manage a few photos - it's not often I get the chance to photograph a hedgehog.
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| Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - our garden |
The hedgehog briefly stuck his nose out of the house a couple of hours later, but then seemed to settle down again. Since then this 'hog' has been behaving normally.
We have at least three hedgehogs which visit us on a nightly basis. They are not yet hibernating, but two of the three houses are now being occupied each night. I know this, as I have three 'trail cams' which are deployed each night, and checked each morning. I get a great deal of pleasure from watching these delightful creatures on movie footage each morning. I do not, however, go out at night and try to photograph them as I try to keep disturbance to a minimum.
Later on I took more shots of Mistle Thrushes from upstairs, but the light was not as good.
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| Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) - our garden |
Lindsay and I were sitting having a cup of tea in the conservatory just before 15h00 as the light was starting to fade, when a G S Woody appeared again. Fortunately, because of earlier sightings, I'd got the camera sitting beside me, and I managed a few images. I was sure that the morning GS Woody had been a female, but now I'm not so sure. This second sighting was of a bird that was male, but with only a very narrow stripe of red at the back of the neck. I suspect that the first sighting was also of this bird, but I'd missed the red on the neck because of poor light.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (male) - our garden |
What a great day it had been (even if the photography had been mediocre) - not just one species of woodpecker, but two, with one being a garden 'lifer'. The Mistle Thrushes and seeing a Hedgehog in daylight being the icing on the cake.
The Mistle Thrushes are still with us, but probably not for long as the Rowan berries are now severely depleted - so no chance of Waxwings then!
I realised a few days ago that I'd not updated my garden list for the year for many months. That has now been rectified, and the current number of species is standing at 38, which matches exactly the figures for the previous two years - although the mix of species is somewhat different. I only need a Fieldfare or a Redwing (for example) to break my garden record. UPDATE: less than 12 hours after writing this a Redwing visited early on 11th Dec. Our record has been broken, and now stands at 39 species for the year - now where's that Fieldfare? UNBELIEVABLE!: less than 5 minutes after writing that, a Fieldfare arrived - now where's that Dusky Thrush? Come on, guys!!
I realised a few days ago that I'd not updated my garden list for the year for many months. That has now been rectified, and the current number of species is standing at 38, which matches exactly the figures for the previous two years - although the mix of species is somewhat different. I only need a Fieldfare or a Redwing (for example) to break my garden record. UPDATE: less than 12 hours after writing this a Redwing visited early on 11th Dec. Our record has been broken, and now stands at 39 species for the year - now where's that Fieldfare? UNBELIEVABLE!: less than 5 minutes after writing that, a Fieldfare arrived - now where's that Dusky Thrush? Come on, guys!!
Thank you for dropping by.
