Great Spotted Woodpecker

Today I saw a flash of bright red on a birch outside our window. My first thought was rose-breasted grosbeak?!, but next moment I saw it was a woodpecker! The binoculars, and then the camera, and then my bird book, and I saw it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker! A pretty common species here, so says my book.

I really enjoy casually watching birds from my window here. I've gotten pretty acquainted with the birds of the eastern US, to the extent that if I get a good look at a bird, I can usually tell at least which family it belongs to and roughly how it behaves. It's been great fun carrying those skills to another continent with altogether different birds and finding that they serve me well. A great tit is instantly recognizable as a relative of our chickadee, and a chaffinch is certainly a finch! And of course, wherever you are, a woodpecker is a woodpecker.

And aren't woodpeckers great? I love them: how crazy hard they peck as they mine tree limbs for insects, so hard they have to brace themselves with their special tails; their graceful, dipping flight; and, of course, the lovely black-and-white pattern of many a woodpecker (not that I'm partial to black-and-white or anything).

The bright red butt of this woodpecker is also a plus. They don't make 'em like that in the states!