Winging It!

It's the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch week-end again, and I'm winging it, at one remove from my Blackpool garden as I've been down in London today to cheer on the Seasiders against top-of-the-table Fulham - a magnificent performance and a well-earned point for the team in tangerine. But don't worry, I left my feathered friends a good stockpile of sunflower hearts and nyjer seed in the feeders.

We usually contrive a bird-related theme at the end of January, and in previous years I've written blogs and poems about wrens, bullfinches and black-throated thrushes. This year I thought I'd write a piece about woodpeckers, not an everyday sighting, as I'm sure you're aware, but a fascinating spectacle when spotted, usually in woodland but occasionally in the garden.

There are three varieties of woodpecker to be found in the UK. The largest is the Green Woodpecker, about 12 inches long (woodpeckers haven't gone metric yet), with bright green plumage on its back and wings and a scarlet crest. They make a call that has been described as a 'yaffle', but one can quite often detect them first if they are tapping industriously at some decaying tree-trunk, looking for insects or making a nest-hole. They can also be seen drilling into the ground with their sharp beaks, hunting for ants which they extract with their long tongues. A few years ago, when I had a decaying apple tree in my garden, it was often visited by a green woodpecker. I wonder if its love of apple orchards was why it became adopted as the name and logo of a brand of cider. There are approximately 50,000 breeding pairs in the UK and fortunately their population is on the increase.

Ranking next in order of size is the Great Spotted Woodpecker, about 9 inches long. It is sometimes called the pied woodpecker on account of its black and white colouring, though it also has a distinctive blaze of crimson under its tail, a help to identifying it up in the tree-tops. It is the commonest of the three, with an estimated 150,000 breeding pairs in the country. Adele and I quite often see them when we're walking in Stanley Park woods and it's always exciting to catch a sight of them. They have also been known to visit bird tables and feeders in gardens, so they occasionally feature in the annual RSPB Garden Birdwatch tallies. Their future seems assured.

Smallest of the trio is the appropriately named Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, also sometimes referred to as the Barred Woodpecker. At about 6 inches long, it's barely bigger than a sparrow. Unlike the other two varieties, its numbers are in sharp decline. Its population has plummeted by 80% in recent decades and there are now thought to be fewer than 2,000 breeding pairs clinging on in our deciduous woodlands. It may be that the recent practice of felling dead trees rather than leaving them to rot has hastened the decline in Lesser Spotted numbers. Apart from their small size and crimson crests, they are most noticeable for just how rapid and how loud their pecking action is. They are formidable drillers and drummers. Good luck to them.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

I've contrived to write a poem about this rarest of woodpeckers, a bird that is rarely seen as far north as Lancashire, but there are some about; and between now and March is the best time to try and catch a glimpse.

Lesser Spotted

Yes, that's unintentionally right.

The barred is the smallest of the tribe,

more often heard than seen. Yet

what a sight when one strikes

lucky, following the clue

of its staccato tattoo

ringing through the wood,

improbably loud for so slight a bird,

and spies high among the lattice-work

of winter branches

that tiny headbanger

clamped vertically to a trunk

and drilling like a power tool,

crimson crown almost a blur.

How thrilling to observe

for a captivating moment

its insectivorous intent

in action and to contemplate

the marvel of such a niche design - 

for decaying trees, woodpeckers;

its drumming a signal reminder

perhaps to us on the ground that

to adapt is to survive. But

headaches... does it suffer them?

And as it flutters off

on moth-like wings, suddenly 

the glorious reveal,

well spotted after all.

I wish you all a rewarding Big Garden Birdwatch this week-end, whether you're spotting in your garden, local park or on a walk on the wild side. I hope you see/have seen some real beauties winging it!

Thanks for reading, S ;-)