Green Woodpeckers in Cornwall. 29th May 2022.

Female leaving the nest

I've been watching a tree in my local woods all through the late winter & early spring for signs of woodpeckers nesting.

The tree had several holes from previous years but I just couldn't suss out where they were this year. 

Yesterday I watched from a distance yet again and was rewarded by a fleeting view of a green woodpecker. I then settled down for a more prolonged wait to see where they were going as I know it's the time that they should be actively feeding their chicks.

Fortunately I spotted the male bird on the tree and with a bit of detective work found the nesthole at 180 degrees to the previous site.

Being particularly careful not to disturb them I visited again in the late afternoon & put up my hide on a steep slope some 40 metres from the tree in dense oak woodland. It's a very quiet area and I am confident that it won't get disturbed, especially as I really struggled to fight my way to it myself!

I'm using a Nikon 500mm f4 telephoto so doing all my photography from a discrete distance which was proven right this morning as I took a few images without the birds batting an eyelid.

The light in an oak wood is getting worse as more leaves break out so it is hard to cope with the dappled sunlight. In fact I'd sooner it was dull or even raining as the sun is burning out the highlights & yellowing up all the greens.

Here's a selection from my first couple of hours, hopefully I'll get a few more sessions under my belt as the adults are still climbing into the nest to feed so the chicks must still be fairly small.

Male green woodpecker with the red moustachial stripe

A tight squeeze in order to keep predators out

Female green woodpecker

Female green woodpecker

 

Green woodpeckers leave the nest

This morning the green woodpeckers that I'd been watching finally left the nest. I'm still not too sure how many chicks there were as I saw 3 but more may have left earlier in the day.
I quickly realised that today was a big day in their lives when the adults were continually flying around the nest trees calling like mad but not actually bringing food to the nest.
Eventually the male bird landed below the nest with a beak ful of food and proceeded to tempt the first youngster out of the nest. When it happened the sun had gone in and it was raining which dropped my shutter speed to 1/50th sec. It was a rather unceremonious occasion for the chick as it over-reached and tumbled out with wings flapping and claws flailing for grip.

Green woodpecker chick

Male at the nest

Tempting the chick out with food

An unceremonious exit

Just fledged.

One in and one out.