For the last two nights we have had snow here on the Pennines of West Yorkshire and during the day the snow has thawed and we have had sunshine. That works for me! Apart from that, I'm so pleased to tell you that a lovely
Great Spotted Woodpecker has visited my garden again. I first saw it on the first day of January 2020. It likes the
homemade fat balls that I make. It's lovely to see it eating seeds from the feed, alongside the small birds. I wondered what sex the woodpecker is and it seems they are very easy to identify. The male has a red patch on the back of its head, whereas the female does not. Young Great Spotted Woodpeckers are even more easy to identify, from any view, because they are sporting a cap of red until they mature. It's most definitely a mature male that is visiting my garden. Whether or not it is always the same one is anybody's guess. Sorry the photos are not great. They are taken from a distance through the kitchen window. If I opened the door to go outside, the birds would be off like a shot!
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker eating fat balls, alongside Goldfinches eating sunflower seeds |
Sorry, the photos are not great. They are taken from a distance through the kitchen window. If I opened the door to go outside, the birds would be off like a shot!
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker eating fat balls |
You can see images of
male, female, and juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the RSPB website (external link).
