What have you seen

Super photos Helen. What a wonderful array of birds.

Thanks for the photos Helen, what a good selection. Pleased to hear you got home ok (on the social thread.)

Lovely selection of birds H&T, did you put the feeders out or were they site feeders.

Hi there Milothedog, 

Wherenext alerted me to your videos here. What a great sound! 

Using your zoomed-in photo, my colleague and I were able to identify this as a great spotted woodpecker. This drumming behaviour is a territorial display, which they carry out during the breeding season and drumming is most intense between January and April. 

Great spotted woodpeckers like hollow dead trees to get the best and loudest sound. However, as you have discovered, it seems that humans' modern infrastructure provides even better surfaces to drum up the volume! http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150128-how-and-why-woodpeckers-drum

The maximum age recorded for a great spotted woodpecker is 11 years, so it is possible that this could be the same individual, but it's likely that other bird(s) have learned to do this from their peers. 

A few disgruntled herring gulls down at Brighton marina. I think they are suffering from chip withdrawal as there are few punters about.

Thousands of starlings just flew passed the house north west to south east. 

Unconfirmed reports that Snowy Owl spotted around Brancaster yesterday.

Spotted our first Red Kites of this trip as we were passing the A1/ M1 junction, and saw 4 in total before we got to Ilkley, as well as the usual Buzzards and Kestrels. Greeted on site by a flock of about 20 Curlew flying overhead, and 15 mins after putting up feeder and fat ball had our first visitors, Blue & Great Tits. Doesn't take them long to search out a food source, does it?

It seems the Short Eared Owls have left the Severn Estuary. Have not seen them for a couple of days, but there are now 2 Barn Owls hunting where the SEO held territory.

It is going to be more difficult to get a close photo as the area to cover is now quite considerable. Looking forward to the challenge and pleasure though.

The nest cam at the Bath Church shows a couple of eggs in the Peregrine nest.

Looks like Snowy Owl is now showing at Wainfleet Marshes in Lincolnshire 

Dash it, we've just left that county heading west! Just my luck.