Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Knowing it would be a bust day I snatched a few shots of this Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker (GSW) before setting off to take Katkatkat up to Carlisle to catch the 9:00 am train back to Edinburgh. It is just as well that I did as they turned out to be about the only shots I took.

This is a this years juvenile as the red crown shows, males have a red nape and females no red on the head. GSW are one of the birds which is actually increasing over recent years. There has been a 16% increase over the last 40years compared to declines in many other species. Interestingly villages are now one of their favoured habitats. It is interesting to speculate if the availability of nuts on bird feeders has anything to do with this.