A few days ago my friend Archie and I were walking down the road by his house when we heard what sounded like a Great spotted Woodpecker, but it’s usual ‘tchick’ sound was repeated very loudly and very quickly. Not sure what it was we located the sound; to find a hole in a tree with a little black red and white face popping in and out. We enjoyed watching it for a while but I had nothing with me to record it.
The next day I came back readily equipped for the task ahead, but what I did not expect was that two of the chicks had fledged and were sitting in nearby branches encouraging their sibling (see above) out of the nest. I recorded the sound (see soundcloud below) and tried to take a photo of the constantly moving head and the fledglings.
Strangely, later the same day I was walking in the wood with my dog and heard the same sound again – only to find another nestsite with chicks and attentive parent. It’s weird how once you recognise a sound you hear it everywhere!
