Spotted woodpecker, finches, tits and redwing

Yesterday, I thought I would take advantage of the warm weather and walk through Easthill Park to see what bird activity was going on. As I walked through the park I noticed a woodpecker fly overhead. I followed as best I could and caught up with it on an old tree not far from the park. I watched the great spotted woodpecker taping as it made its way around the tree. It was a male (because of the red patch on the neck). A second woodpecker flited around in an adajacent tree, possibly a female but not close enough to confirm. The male woodpecker started to investigate a couple of large holes in the side of the tree. They looked the right size for nesting and may well be the site of old woodpecker nests.

The second woodpecker flew off and the male followed. I walked back to the park and along the northern end where it is lightly wooded. Hunting in the leaf litter where several blackbirds and a song thrush.

There was also a group of about 6 redwing which flew up into the branches as I approached. As I walked along through the trees I noticed numerous blue tits, great tits, chaffinch and one goldfinch.

This is a great time of the year for learning bird song, so if you have a local park nearby then now is a good time to visit. The birds are very vocal at this time, I could hear blackbird, greenfinch, blue tit and great tit just in this one area. I also noticed the redwings chattering away in the branches. As many of the trees are still without foligae it is much easier to match the bird song with that is bird vocalising. Very soon you will be able to identify the bird song, even when you cannot see the actual birds. As I walked back out of the park and onto the high street a sparrowhawk flew overhead and over the park.