Woodpeckers are now feeding at the nest entrance

The great spotted woodpeckers are now feeding at the nest entrance as the parents return regularly wth beaks full of ants and their eggs & larvae.

Male great spotted woodpecker and chick.

Male great spotted woodpecker and chick.

Beautiful Demoiselle

After a couple of hours staring at the woodpeckers nest this afternoon I finally cracked and went for a wander along the river bank where kingfishers were dashing up and down frantically feeding a brood in their nesting burrow.
The golden flash of the female beautiful demoiselle caught my eye and despite not bringing my trusty macro lens I made the standard 18-70mm suffice.

Female Beautiful Demoiselle

Great spotted woodpeckers this afternoon

These great spotted woodpeckers are nearly ready to fledge and are starting to put their heads out of the nesthole in search of the returning parent with its beak full of grubs/wood ants/spiders etc.

Great spotted woodpecker male with a beak full of wood ants

 

 

 

 

Great spotted woodpecker female feeding an insistant chick.

 

Great spotted woodpecker female feeding an insistant chick.

Another day and more woodpeckers

Was at the nest site for the green woodpeckers this morning. They are feeding small young and are not as regular as the great spotted's. There was about an hour between visits from the male bird and only once did I get a brief view of the female.

 

 

Male Green Woodpecker

 

 

 

 

Male Green Woodpecker

I'm sure I can fit in this hole!

I need to diet!

Another Great Spotted Woodpecker!

I can't get enough of these great birds. They are feeding young in earnest and the chicks are starting to come close to the nest entrance hole. My ultimate target photo is one where the chick has its head out of the hole with the adult beside it with a beak full of green caterpillars..... here's hoping!
But for now.......

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Woodpeckers galore!

A late  start gave me some poor lighting on a nest site for green woodpeckers this afternoon. Luckily the male bird stayed on the tree long enough to fire off  few frames. Four hours later and another visit to the nest of the male which I missed completely and a stiff neck for peering up to the top of a tree for all that time!

Still, a couple of pics below followed by a couple of great spotted woodpeckers nesting which I took this evening just a few miles from home. The evening light illuminated the nesting tree very well. Hopefully some more of these birds will follow as the birdscontinue in feeding their broods.

Male green woodpecker

Male green woodpecker

Female great spotted woodpecker.

Male great spotted woodpecker.

Grey Wagtails

My thanks to Andy B. for the tip off on these Grey Wags that are building a nest alongside the river Camel.

After spending most of the morning driving around looking for a Redstart nest in an old barn wall that I'd been told about I'd just about given up for the day until I remembered this site where I saw the wags carrying nest material and watched them mating.
Unfortunately I didn't get the best angle on the copulating pair as I was at the top of the riverbank looking down on them but hey, so what, I watched them getting the business done and can now re-visit the site when they start feeding young.