great spotted woodpecker dendrocopos major

Taken just before our holiday. This youngster was so busy grubbing for food in the moss that I was able to get very close.

The local Great Spotted Woodpeckers seem to have had a good year. Lots of young birds about.

There's been a lot of drumming going on for the post few weeks.

Still lots of Siskins around but they were heavily outnumbered yesterday by a large flock of Common Redpolls

Thought it was an unusual and interesting perch and background for the woodpecker.

Off to Croatia very early tomorrow morning but I'm off work today so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures on Bird Forum before packing. We've had a male woodpecker feeding 2 juveniles outside the bedroom window for about a week now. I've taken a lot of pictures though the action wasn't all...

Even with the nip in the air, overcast skies and the ever present falling rain (a return to wintery conditions), there is always something out there if you keep your eyes open. Female coming in to the feeders.

Still winter weather-wise but spring is in the air. The woodpeckers have been drumming ever-increasingly since January.

Sunshine and snow at last. Took some pictures from the windows today and we're off on a trip tomorrow. In the meantime 2 more pictures from the spring/early summer.

Another juvenile making his way into a new world.

Had a great trip to the south of Sweden. Saw lots of great birds and got some good pictures too. I've spent much of the day processing the first of them.

-12.5 C today and set to get colder during the weekend. Brrr! :-)

Don't know what's attracted its attention but I suppose a lot is new at that age.