I thought today was going to be a good day for
migration in Maridalen but I was completely wrong. Despite a weak southerly
wind and cloud there was absolutely no sign of new arrivals.
It was therefore easy to make the decision to go
into woodpecker wood and search for some missing toes. I quickly located first
one and then a pair of Three-toed Woodpeckers. The female was One-Toe and the
male was drumming so actively that I wonder if he is a different male to the
last two years who always seemed very laid back. I was with the birds for quite
a while and had both drumming close to each other and then the female feeding
at head height just metres from me whilst the male continued drumming.
Just so you are warned: a tripod was not employed in the filming of any videos today 😎 although they are not too bad. The woodpecker video has both birds drumming plus a long sequence of the female feeding.
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| the male and female Three-toed Woodpeckers together |
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| male |
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| the female is One-Toe back for her third year. Only the right claw on the right foot is normal and her right foot often slips. The left claw points up and is broken off and te middle claw is long, thin and straight rather than curing downwards |
I have been hearing Dunnocks (jernspurv) for a week
or so but today I finally saw one and saw it well as it sang close to me.
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