(Dendrocopos major)
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a bird around about 24 centimeters long and it is a permanent resident of our garden. It has very strong bill, for drilling and drumming on trees, and long tongue for extracting food. Also, might be very interesting to know that it has a special membrane which closes protecting the eye from flying debris. And some special feathers are covering the nostrils, too.
During summer, this woodpecker is such an inconspicuous bird! Its best ally is the foliage, and the only way to be aware of Woody’s presence it is the drumming, those repeated blows of its bill upon a trunk. What’s very interesting for me, it’s that a few years ago I noticed a woodpecker drumming upon an iron pole, not a wood one. The sounds were amazing.
Unfortunately, only during winter I have more chances to get some decent photos of this woodpecker.
When was the last time you saw a woodpecker?
Cornell's photos and words 
I see Downy Woodpeckers regularly (the last time was there days ago), but they are not as impressive as your woodpecker. Wonderful shot of a beautiful bird.
I searched on Internet some information about Downy Woodpecker and it’s so small! And I also noticed it’s a bit B&W, only sometimes has a bit of red. But anyway, looks nice after all. 🙂
I see the greater spotted woodpecker when I go up to feed the birds at our Moorland Feeder station. You have taken a very fine picture of yours.
I have read on Internet that woodpeckers from GB are going and recolonise Ireland. That’s nice.
Nice shot. It’s interesting to learn about the eye cover.
I found on Wikipedia another interesting information about this eye cover : ” Woodpeckers tighten their nictitating membrane a millisecond prior to their beak impacting the trunk of a tree to prevent shaking-induced retinal injury”
You’re getting very, very good with your new camera, that’s about as good of a photo as there is!
It’s not so easy to pick a photo after I see your and a few other photographers’ photos. It took me a long while to decide which photograph to post even if I have thousands of nice portraits of birds…
Thank you!
Such a beautiful bird. Hope all is well with you, Cornel.
Thank you. 🙂
I am fine.
Do you have woodpeckers there?
Yes, we have three species on the Yukon Flats. Here is a link to a list of the birds where we live: http://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/bird_species_list.pdf
Cornel, this is an AMAZING shot! How on earth did you get this? It is worthy of the very best wildlife photographers. I am also in awe of all the photos you have shown Colin recently.
Well, I believe you remember my special weapons, I usually use many
unconventional weapons. 🙂 😀
In this case I used a ladder and a white bed sheet and I hand hold the camera. And waited, and waited a while until the bird came.
When I compare my white bed sheet with professional hides…:(
I realized I have to do my best using only what I have, and here you have some attempts. 🙂
I looked at the pic, and thought “Surely Cornel can’t hide under a sheet while he is up a tree!” But I am proved wrong! 🙂 You deserve an award, truly you do. Talent will always show through, if you have the ideas and the determination!
I had to wait a while until the woodpecker was sure there is no danger. I was sure it will check the bark of the tree where I was standing.
A fabulous shot of this beautiful woodpecker. We often see Downy Woodpeckers around here. They are cute little birds.
Thank you. I’m curious about this Downy W. I should search some photos of it.
What a beautiful bird! So large and majestic. I am used to small Downy Woodpeckers, too. It is interesting to see what the familiar birds are in Europe.
And that is a very good shot, too. Great detail.
It seems Downy W. is so popular there!
It’s such a cute little bird, and relatively common over a wide area. It’s one of the smaller woodpeckers, and can live in suburban areas.