Got to the park just as the sun was rising, sadly it didn't stay out long, it did reappear later, but briefly before vanishing for good.
At least four Chiffchaff singing this morning and a pair of Blackcap the male sang briefly this was my 60 species for the year. Unfortunately the warblers stayed in the tops of the trees, so no piccies but great to hear.
Since the beginning of January I have only ever heard and seen one individual Green Woodpecker, a male. Today I had three together, presumably the resident male and now two females, they all stayed close together. I came across two on the ground and presumed they were carrying out a display ritual. Facing each other and mirroring each others movements of their head. Until I realised they were the females! And it ended in a right royal rumble with one eventually flying off. They were unfortunately in the shade (yes this was while the sun was out) and even with a high ISO setting I was still only getting around 1/250th not enough to freeze the action. My better images are below.
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| Sun rising |
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| over the boating lake |
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| Sun rise taken from the western end of the boating lake |
At least four Chiffchaff singing this morning and a pair of Blackcap the male sang briefly this was my 60 species for the year. Unfortunately the warblers stayed in the tops of the trees, so no piccies but great to hear.
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| Mute Swan reflection |
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| male Blackbird, April is probably the best month to find ring ouzels passing through and I swear I must have checked fifty blackbirds this morning! |
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| Oddly marked Goose any ideas on its parentage? |
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| Tufted Duck male |
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| Wren |
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| pair of Egyptian Geese about 30' up a tree! |
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| It looks quite nice when the sky is blue. |
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| The yellow of the Forsythia really stands out in early spring |
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| Forsythia |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gulls |
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| female Blackbird |
Since the beginning of January I have only ever heard and seen one individual Green Woodpecker, a male. Today I had three together, presumably the resident male and now two females, they all stayed close together. I came across two on the ground and presumed they were carrying out a display ritual. Facing each other and mirroring each others movements of their head. Until I realised they were the females! And it ended in a right royal rumble with one eventually flying off. They were unfortunately in the shade (yes this was while the sun was out) and even with a high ISO setting I was still only getting around 1/250th not enough to freeze the action. My better images are below.
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| Green Woodpeckers - Two females sorting out who will be the males suitor |
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| This went on for almost five minutes |
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| I have never seen this behavior before |
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| They were so involved in what I presume is a dispute that they were oblivious to me |
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| Getting close to the end now |
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| They really were aggressive, at one point one was pinned to the ground and having the back of it's neck seriously pecked. This lasted less than a minute before one departed with it's tail between it's legs. |
