GSW

I took precisely eight photos today, and six of them were of this great spotted woodpecker on one of the peanut feeders. We have two of these feeders, equidistant from the house in different directions, and the other day I was very pleased to see a GSW on each - one male, and one female. Today the male didn't appear, and we only had this female helping herself to some lunch. I took the photos from the kitchen doorway so as not to scare her off, but shortly after this a magpie flurried in and put her to flight anyway.

This morning I helped R with some DIY tree surgery in the secret garden, which we managed to come through with no broken bones (always a bonus - the next time you see R, ask him about the time he broke his ankle pruning a large Leylandii hedge, and spent a full eighteen hours trying to persuade me it was just a flesh wound). This afternoon I decided to put the last hour of light to photographic use, and went owling. But the owls (four now, I hear, up from yesterday's three) decided not to go photographering - which is why I'm left posting the woodpecker.

She'll probably cope with the indignity of being treated as a backstop.