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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 1969114" data-attributes="member: 12449">Black MagicFantastic birding at the feeders of late, chock a block with woodpeckers, Marsh and Willow Tits by the bucketload, a Lesser Redpoll adding a  flavour of the rare. However, for simple captivation, the first days of November were right up there with the best. After tripping over potholes in my turf, a by-product of over-eager Wild Boar, and looking with some disdain at another tree felled by a Beaver, into my cabin I went, a session of gazing out of the window to follow. All hunky-dory, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers and the other regulars appearing on cue, the woodpecker taking pride of place on the very closest of the feeders, a metre or so from the window. Beyond the cabin, dotting the swamplands that stretch out, assorted alders and birches in varying states of decay, some still clinging to life, others long since succumbed to waterlogging borne of beaver activities. Into this mosaic of habitat, my woodpeckers flock, a healthy breeding population, an even better congregation in winter. And this winter is already shaping up to be a classic, most of the major species as of now back in place, the White-backed Woodpecker on the feeders, a pair of Black Woodpeckers resident in their winter territory. Each year the Black Woodpeckers seem to seek out a favoured patch of alders to demolish, returning day after day to the same trees, huge piles of woodchip accumulating as the trunks are hollowed and finally crash to the ground. And for this year's action, I am most fortunate, their patch of choice is right in front of the cabin, nearby trees sporting fine scars from their action. So to my day, a moderately warm affair, slightly misty, none too bright. The Middle Spotted Woodpecker tapped away on the feeder, a second dropping in for the cuisine on offer. All too soon, in flopped a Black Woodpecker, onto a trunk 40 metres out, a cavernous hollow being hammered out, the bird engrossed in his endeavors. What followed next was a spectacle to watch, a drama of hawk seeking dinner, its overly optimistic sights set on the Black Woodpecker, a bird bigger than the Sparrowhawk itself! Attack one, a sudden assault launched from a maze of trunks beyond, the Sparrowhawk coming in fast and low, swinging up at the last moment, almost knocking the woodpecker off its trunk, more by surprise than any potential for physical might. Quickly Señor Woodpecker regained his poise, standing ground to the hawk, the latter trying his luck on a return swoop ...the woodpecker by now prepared and hardly startled, merely edging round to face the incoming bird. With the element of surprise gone, I would have imagined the Sparrowhawk might have accepted this one lunchbox too large ...but no, back and back the hawk struck, launching repeated attacks every so often, the battle of wits lasting a good hour, one Black Woodpecker slowly becoming less and less fussed by the attacks, barely bothering to shuffle out of the way one Sparrowhawk showing incredible persistence. As the hour reached its end, with the Sparrowhawk having not bothered any of the numerous Great Tits and Nuthatches sneaking in to feed nor harried the regular White-backed Woodpecker as he arrived to swing from his favourite feeder, suddenly he must have thought he was seeing double, then triple! Or at least I did - on the trunks in front, not one Black Woodpecker, but three! Two males and a female, an excellent tally for my forest and obviously a cause of confusion for the Sparrowhawk, this little raptor last seen swooping around chasing whichever appeared closest! As Sparrowhawk departed and calm returned, the feeders began to bulge, plenty of birds flocking in, Great Spotted Woodpeckers joining the melee, a male Grey-headed Woodpecker edging in. A fine day by any standards.Photos from the front door...</blockquote>

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