Thursday 6 May 2010

Woodpecker Families

Tuesday I had to go down to the hospital for the results of the MRI on my knee.  All is well!  No torn cartilage this time so no operation needed.  Yippee!  I have started to become a victim of age though and, with previous damage, the back of my knee cap is starting to fail.  I just have to have some physio to build up the muscles. No impact exercise is on the list too so, as I can't bear the thought of public swimming pools, we've bought an exercise bike!! Eeeek!  (Stop laughing Elsa!)

The past few days have just disappeared somewhere.  We've actually managed a little bit of gardening and everything is looking good.  I must go around a take some photos, they are a good way of keeping track of events.  I have photos from last year of the daffs just about over in March.  I don't think they'd opened this year at that time!

We were watching the birds out of the bedroom window yesterday like we do most mornings and had a nice surprise.  Last year we had a pair of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers visit us regularly and they had a male chick they brought to visit us.

This is him...



He has continued to be a regular all winter.  He is as bold as brass for such a shy breed and not a lot phases him.  John on the mower, the cat sitting on the bench near by, visitors walking up the drive and certainly not the bully boy starlings!  Except  yesterday.  He was hanging on the nut feeder absolutely frozen into place.  Up above him in the ash tree was another GS woodpecker, and it was a girl!  He was smitten!  She was quite a way up, just in his line of sight preening herself and fluffing her feathers.  Of course I actually didn't have a camera to hand, always the way, and after a few minutes they few off.  Together.  Could this be the start of another generation?  Fingers crossed.

I have pastels again today and tomorrow I start another two QU courses.  I really must work at finishing some things!!  And we did our election thing this morning at 07.30, perhaps another week and things will be more normal again!