Green Woodpecker

I woke, put my glasses on, and checked the time.. 5.50am, so I threw on some clothes and drove to Thorpe Bay for the sunrise. As the sun was coming up it was obvious I was in the wrong place, unless the whole sky was going to be lit up, as the beach huts and houses obliterated what little colour there was. Disappointed, I decided to take a detour to Belfairs Woods on the way home to get a bit of walk and maybe a photo.

Nothing was doing there, except golfers, when I noticed a bird that looked and moved differently to the usual. It was a way off so I moved closer, and took some shots before it flew to an area of golf fairway 50 yards away. A quick check at the speck I had photographed revealed what I thought was a woodpecker! Although I’ve heard plenty I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woodpecker in real life so I checked it was still there and trudged off after it. I got a bit closer this time but again it flew off again. No matter, I followed. This time I got much closer, although still not as close as I’d like, before it decided it had had enough me and headed off towards the trees. The photo above is the result, a more than 50% crop (down to 3500 pixels… love that 45mp sensor in the R5!), but decent enough. It won’t win any awards but I am thrilled to have finally seen one and managed to have photographed what I think is a young male :)