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Woodpecker evidence in the cemetery!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wendy
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Wendy

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We called in at Key Hill Cemetery today after work and Brian and Colin showed us the evidence of a visitor. We were amazed it looked like the tree had been drilled the whole was perfectly round. Unfortunately we didn't see him but it has been a lovely day.:)
 
Woodpeckers were there last year weren't they Wendy? Brilliant that they've returned - but I hope Woody sweeps up afterwards, or that's yet more work for Brian and Colin!
 
That is a lot of pecking! By the colour of the wood on the floor it is very recent. Key Hill cemetery is such a little oasis of wildlife.
Thanks for the pictures.
Polly
 
Has any body seen which type of woodpecker it is i wonder how it traveled to Key Hill it must be a resident. Its normally a woodland bird for obvious reasons. is its name Woody:D:DDek PS I wonder if there are a pair of them and they are building a nest
 
Dek I saw them last year and there were a pair but I have no idea which type they are:confused:. I couldn't belive how much saw dust.....so to speak.......there was!
 
Wendy said:
Dek I saw them last year and there were a pair but I have no idea which type they are:confused:. I couldn't belive how much saw dust.....so to speak.......there was!
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Wendy when you saw them were they a beige colour with red on the back of their heads and lower tummies? The most common woodpecker is the Great Spotted Woodpecker. They also have black on the top of their heads and black lines at the side of their faces. I have a pair that visit my garden.
Polly
 
Polly from what I remember they probably were. We will have to keep our eyes peeled when we visit.
 
This is what to look for had trouble scanning there is one more woodpecker in this country and that is the Green woodpecker not so common and quite shy. Dek :):)
 
Hi Dek, they look like the ones we had last year - as Poolypos said, bits of red, black, white - they seemed to creep along the branches - funny sort of motion.

They may have hitched a ride in with Pollypops last vists - Have they been in your garden lately? - If they are yours, please bring a broom on your next visit!:D:D
 
Key Hill Brian said:
Hi Dek, they look like the ones we had last year - as Poolypos said, bits of red, black, white - they seemed to creep along the branches - funny sort of motion.

They may have hitched a ride in with Pollypops last vists - Have they been in your garden lately? - If they are yours, please bring a broom on your next visit!:D:D
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Brian, I haven't seen them in my garden for about a week - I wondered where they had gone :D
Polly
 
for the last week or two I have heard Woodpeckers every day in Alcott Wood Chelmsley Wood whilst walking my dogs but when I walk to the direction of the sound he/she stops pecking, so I never see them, most frustrating. There is more than one because the sound is coming from different directions. Eric
 
Eric, this happens to me up the Lickeys - I can always hear them pecking but don't manage to see them. I was thrilled when I saw them in my garden. They have visited us for several years now to get food from my bird feeder. I hang those half coconuts up filled with fat and seeds and their beaks make short work of getting through it (much softer than wood). The blackbirds are very clever - as soon as the woodpeckers go on the coconuts they stand undermeath as the woodpeckers peck so hard the food falls underneath and the blackbirds catch it - very clever!
Polly
 
dek carr said:
This is what to look for had trouble scanning there is one more woodpecker in this country and that is the Green woodpecker not so common and quite shy. Dek :):)
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Dek I visited Key Hill yesterday and saw the woodpeckers they are the same as in your picture and I saw them both:). Sadly they one flew off and the other went into the little hole in the tree before I could get my camera ready:(.
 
Wendy that little hole will be the nest i noticed on your photo that the tree has had a bow sawn off where the woodpecker has drilled its hole the tree would have stopped the sap flowing to this branch and a little die back would have occurred causing a hollow section behind the hole those clever Woodpeckers would have known this and used it for their nest.Dek
 
There seems to be an awful lot of green woodpeckers this year, maybe it has something to do with the slight fall in the population of magpies last year? Magpies eat the young of most birds if they can get in the nests!!
 
I didn't know there has been a decrease in magpies - we have lots in our garden. I have always thought they were lovely to look at but they are horrible to other birds.
Polly :)
 
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