Green Woodpecker display

No Wheatears at Serpentine BP this morning but behaviour from Green Woodpeckers I've not witnessed before. The female in this picture was stretching her head and neck out and moving it from side to side in an exaggerated manner. At first I though this was for the benefit of the male nearby but then I noticed a second female on a branch not far away. This was stationary but eventually flew off.

Click here for a short video clip (1.3MB). The female is towards the bottom of the screen partly hidden by the tree.

Green Woodpeckers (Picus viridis)


Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77