Woodpecker by the old stump

7 June 2026 · Woods

There's a great spotted woodpecker that has been working on the dead pine near the clearing. You hear it long before you see it. Today it let me get within about fifteen metres before it moved round to the other side of the trunk, which they always do, as if that makes them invisible.

Red patch under the tail, black and white back, very much in charge. I stood there long enough that my coffee went cold.

The dead tree is full of holes now. The forestry people left it standing, which I think is the right call.