Tag: great spotted woodpecker

nature

Garden visitors

Nannie RaRa

Jenny Wren makes visits to my garden, but is not that often seen although I hear her loud noise quite a bit. I managed to capture a short video of her hunting for food amongst the parsley.

The great spotted woodpecker has been visiting my garden regularly over the years and eats from the peanut feeders I put up.

For the past few years the woodpecker brings its young along to show it where to find food by feeding it from the peanuts. Here are a few videos of this happening.

The young great spotted woodpecker is sitting on the branch of the oak between the two peanut feeders.

This is a more distance shot of the great spotted woodpecker feeding its young.

The young woodpecker moved to a different tree. The adult great spotted woodpecker had to bring the food over to it.

nature

Great spotted woodpecker feeding young

Nannie RaRa

I regularly have great spotted woodpeckers on my peanut feeders. They have brought their young along and shown them where the peanuts are,

The young woodpeckers start by appearing in the high branches of the oak tree and shout out for food. The young ones are timid and expect the parent to bring the food to where ever they are.

Eventually the parents persuade them to come closer to the peanuts, sitting on the same branch as the feeder or even on the feeder with the adult. Now the young know where to get food.

This video was taken a couple of summers ago and I still have generations of great spotted woodpeckers visiting.

Enjoy!

nature, painting

Recent paintings

Nannie RaRa

Since writing Jenny Wren to the rescue and and illustrating the book with my paintings, I decided to paint for fun rather than for a specific purpose.

I’ve been experimenting with both watercolours and gouache. Looking back over some of my earlier works I can see improvements.

Here are some of my recent works.

I regularly walk through the nearby countryside and this hollow oak always looks so good. It is a popular place for children who can go inside and maybe visit secret places…

There is a ruined church near us that caught the morning light so beautifully.

I’ve been trying to find the best way to paint bark and leaves. Here is a study of a tree with ivy growing round it.

I often take photos of birds, both from my walks and those that visit my garden.

Last year we had Great Spotted Woodpeckers bring their young along to show them where the food is. It was great to see the parent feeding the young. This inspired the painting of the three woodpeckers.

Along the river we get many waders. This is a dunlin.

And finally, here is a composite picture of several birds that I have seen nearby. Of course Jenny Wren and Bobby Robin are here, but Jason Jay was away. Can you recognise the others?