great spotted woodpeckerOne of my favourite visitors to the bird feeder is the great spotted woodpecker. In the woodland, views are restricted to a quick flash of black and white as it flies past, or the distant drumming.

Small air pockets in the skull help cushion the impact as the woodpecker strikes the tree with its beak to make the drumming sound. Woodpeckers travel up the trunk of a tree using hopping movements.

The great spotted woodpecker has a varied diet which changes with the seasons. During spring and summer they feed mainly on insects, using their beak to chisel holes in the bark to feed on wood boring beetles and other prey.

But in autumn and winter they switch to a variety of fruits, seeds and nuts. Woodpeckers can become a regular visitor to feed feeders, especially at this time of the year.

Male and female great spotted woodpeckers are quite easy to tell apart. The male has a distinctive red patch on the back of its head. So far we have only seen female woodpecker on our birdfeeder cam.

Keeping checking birdfeeder cam and our other  webcams to see what it happening on the reserve