NESTING WOODPECKERS

 I've been out of birding action for the last couple of months due to a knee replacement operation. So looking out over to the small wood adjacent to my home I was delighted to see a Green Woodpecker, I set my scope up on our patio area and soon realised it was hacking out a nesting chamber. What a stroke of luck as I could observe the birds coming and going as they slowly dig the nest hole without having to leave my garden or disturb the birds brilliant.

Below is a picture of the male at the nest hole.

 Here's a pic of the tree the Woodpeckers have decided to use for their nest site.

I've drawn a circle around the nest hole so you can see where it's located.

Here's some video of the bird outside the nest hole.

And digging the nest chamber out on a dreary day.

Here's another video of the male on the other side of the tree perhaps he was alerted to some danger and moved away from the nest hole.

 Another short clip of the male giving way to the female so she can inspect his hard work. I did get the wife to bend back the branch that was in front of the hole so I could see them better from the house.

Fantastic to have them so close and hopefully as my knee slowly gets better I might be lucky enough to get some pictures of the young with their heads sticking out of the nest hole, that would be brilliant, lets hope they're successful.

All footage was taken with my Swarovski scope and iPhone 14, the picture of the woodpecker was a frame grab from one of the clips.