Walk in the Snow

The snow continued overnight. I measured the snow in the back garden and it was 12 cm deep.

After working thye first part of the morniong (I would have liked to have gone outstraight away) I went for a walk around the village.

The road outside our house. Portslade Old village is a beautiful place, made all the more beautiful by the blanket of snow. There were quite a few birds around, espcially blue and great tits.

Great tits

I carried on walking to Easthill Park which had also be transformed by the snow.

I watched several grey squirrels chasing each other in the snow, scampering up trees and along branches.

As they ran across branches they scattered snow.

Squirrel drey

As I came out of the park I noticed a great spotted woodpecker fly into the park from across the road. I went back in and noticed there was actuially two great spotted woodpeckers.

The woodpeckers moved up the branches, stopping occasionally to peck at the bark. After a few minutes they flew off further into the park and dissapeared into the top of an evergreen.

Woodpecker

As I walked past Easthill Park (Portslade, East Sussex) I heard a woodpecker drumming for the first time this year. I did not see the woodpecker this time, but it is probably the great spotted woodpecker that I saw on numerous occasions last year.

Woodpecker, goldfinches and Jay

Walking our daughter to school this morning I noticed a great spotted woodpecker on a tree, very low to the ground, in the Horse Sanctuary field next to Easthill Park. It was foraging in its usual manner.

As we carried on further I noticed that another woodpecker was again inspecting the holes in the tree (see previous observations below). I am hoping that they will nest as they are in a perfect spot to observe without disturbing them. Watch this space!

On the way back from dropping our daughter off, just before I reached the park I noticed a flock of goldfinches in the top branches of a tree. It was their constant chatter that alerted me to the presence. These really are delightful birds. I walked back through the park and as I passed a local school I noticed a very sleepy looking jay in the branches of a tree.

woodpeckers, squirrels and dancing sea gulls

On the way to taking our daughter to school we passed a thrush siting on a fence post, only a couple of feet away singing. To my surprise it did not fly off when we passed. On the way back I heard a great spotted woodpecker drumming and found it at the top of the usual tree. As I watched, the woodpecker started to forage and it was then I realised this was not the drummer and I soon spotted another woodpecker in the next tree. Like before this one was joined by a third and after much chasing around the branches they both flew off. I did not see what happened to the first woodpecker.

On the way to pick our daughter up from school in the evening I was attracted by the sound of a squirrel on the flint wall of the park. This was a warning call, a bit like a wheezy squeak repeated over and over. I could not tell what the cause of the excitement was, usually a predator nearby. This call may be directed at cats and large birds such as crows and magpies. Occasionally when checking out an irrate squirrel I have found the cause to be a kestrel or a fox. Sometimes the warning call is directed at a sleeping owl but I have not witnessed this yet.

On the corner of the road, where I meet my daughter, two herring gulls were performing a dance. This is done to attract earthworms to the surface which they snatch up and eat. Standing side by side at one point they did look like a double act, but it was definately a free for all when they spotted a worm. It did look rather like Riverdance in flippers. It always amazes me how they can lift up their feet so quickly but keep there body still.

Great spotted woodpecker

On the way to dropping our daughter off to school we heard a woodpecker drumming on a tree truck. I kept an eye out on the way back and noticed a woodpecker flying into the same trees (at the back of Emmaus) opposite Easthill Park (Portslade). Almost straight away the woodpecker started to drum on the trunk at the top of an old tree. This was a male great spotted woodpecker, recognisable by the red patch at the nape (back) of its neck. After about 5 minutes another great spotted woodpecker arrived in the neighbouring tree. This was a female (no red nape). Then a third woodpecker arrived and the female made what sounded like a warning call and looked agitated. This is the first time I have seen three together. After a couple of minutes she chased off the third woodpecker (could not see if this was male or female - possibly female and was considered a rival?). After another few minutes the original woodpecker flew off in the same direction, south west over to trees on the far side of the horse sanctuary.