Featheredfriday - Woodpecker

It is #featheredfriday, curated by @melinda010100 and I have prepeared few photos of the woodpecker I recently spotted in the park.

First, let me say they are far from good and I am trying the settings of the camera, which sometimes, most of the time, are not correct. I know, I know it is long process to become good photographer and I keep on practicing.

I had to crop the images, because I shoot from a distance. However this reduce the quality of the picture. I made some adjustments with Photoshop Express app and here are the photos of Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The bird is seen throughout Europe and Northern Asia, it does not migrate and one can see it in the woods or parks all year round. When the trees are bare and leaves have fallen, then the chances to find the woodpeckers are bigger. So are my chances for better photos. I tried today, without success to make a photo of three woodpeckers. They were high above among the still lavish foliage and in the end there were no crisp images.

The one in this post, as you can see, was pecking the bark of already bare branches. Look at the peels, made by the woody. The knocking sound cannot be mistaken. That is the first sign the bird is around as well as the sharp call. Each time we are in the park walking the dogs we listen to these sounds to find the birds. Sometimes they are coming much closer to where I live, basically on the tree next to the entrance. My problem is, I am not fast enough with the camera.

The diet consists of insects, fruit, eggs, seeds and sometimes small rodents and chicks.The woodpecker is capable of extracting seeds from the pine cones The nest is a hole in the tree, very neat and round. Both parents incubate the eggs, feed their chicks and clean the nest.