W ........... is for Woodpecker

.... nearly the end of the alphaponty alphabet challenge!

Yesterday, as I said, I was supremely uninspired by my new walk of necessity so this morning I was determined to give the huge grassy expanse of the rugby field a serious blip attempt. I remembered that as we walked yesterday, the grass was fairly high and wet but in the distance I had noticed a shimmer of some colour. So I determined to find it today. Well - best laid plans and all that... when I arrived at the rugby pitch it was to find a frustratingly busy tractor very efficiently cutting the grass and the area I had espied yesterday was already neatly mown.

The dogs and I had a good walk although it took me a while to divest us all of wet mown grass before getting back into the car. I was then off to have a coffee with a friend from the art class. Her house is set very close to the wooded area where I usually walk and she has a delightful walled garden which backs onto it. We had coffee in the kitchen and I had a wonderful view of her very busy bird feeder and was absolutely delighted when this Greater Spotted Woodpecker decided to visit. She darted in a couple of times and then plucked up courage to settle a bit longer and have a good nibble at the peanuts so I was able to get a reasonable shot at her. Her mate joined her at one stage but flew off before I could get a good shot of him. The capture isn't of the same quality as I have seen on here as it was through glass and on full zoom with my trusty P&S. However, suffice to say that I am thrilled as it is my first proper sighting of a woodpecker around here.

The day continued well as, after lunch, the sun began to penetrate the grey sky and the grass appeared just dry enough to mow. The underlying ground is sodden and muddy but the top part is at least cut now and safely in the compost bin as more rain is due in tonight!

Hope your day was good too.

PS. I have just looked up my Scottish Bird book - which I had temporarily misplaced yesterday! - and discovered that this woodpecker is in fact a juvenile as it has a red centre on its crown. The other one I saw must have been the adult male as it had a red patch lower down on the back of his head.