Father and baby

Yesterday I was fortunate to spot a baby green woodpecker in our willow tree, but it was nestled in a shady spot amongst lots of leaves, so there was no chance of a photograph. This morning, when I opened the back door to let the dogs out, I heard the characteristic laughing alarm call of the adult woodpecker.

It's usually very difficult to spot the woodpeckers in the tree tops, but after scanning the willow canopy carefully, I spotted both father and baby sitting on a relatively open branch. The father was not best pleased that dogs and cats were using his garden! I dashed inside, put the 300mm lens on, and rattled off a few shots - amazed that they were still there when I returned to the back door.

I've chosen this particular one, mostly because it was the clearest shot, but also because the baby was looking straight at me. So potential blip sorted before 8am! It has been quite heavily cropped - our garden's quite large and they were a long way up!

Soon after I took the dogs down to the river. I took a few backlit plant shots and then all of a sudden there was a fox , peeping round some bushes, and staring straight at me. Unfortunately its face was shaded, but I managed to get two shots before it disappeared from view.

It's the first time I've managed to capture a photo of a fox outside the garden, and normally it would definitely have been my chosen blip. But the woodpeckers are our very own ones, so they make the cut. You can see my female fox here.

PS I had to edit this. I thought it was mother and baby, but having checked the id book, I find it's father and baby! And the baby's female! Good old Dad!