Part 1 - The great spotted woodpecker
We're all looking forward to this weekend's Big Garden Birdwatch and this week, in preparation, we'll be honing our bird spotting and identification skills running our very own Pulborough Garden Birdwatch.
If you're popping into the Visitor Centre decide whether you're going to support our cafe team or our shop team...will you be able to help them add any birds to their special sightings boards? At the end of the week we'll be totting up the totals and seeing which of our feeding areas is the most popular with the birdies.
We're also running a staff and volunteer photo competition and each day will be selecting a photo taken on one of our feeding stations.
So here is yesterday's photo:
Thanks to Elinor for her photo which is a very accurate representation of yesterday's foggy conditions - we could barely see beyond the feeders at all yesterday.
Great spotted woodpeckers are regular and charismatic visitors to our bird feeders but didn't feature in the Big Garden Birdwatch Top 20 last year. If you live near woodland or simply have some mature trees nearby you may be able to tempt one into your garden - I'd recommend using peanuts or something from our 'nibbles' range particularly at this time of year when they need lots of energy.
It may still be a little early for proper birdsong, but the great spotted woodpeckers are certainly making themselves heard on the reserve now . Even when the reserve is in flood, or when frost lies on the ground, the drumming of a woodpecker is a welcome signal that spring will surely come.
Both male and female great spotted woodpeckers drum; striking their beaks repeatedly against a suitable rotten or hollow branch. It is an effective form of display with the sound reverberating through the woodland in early spring.
Surely this would cause the headbanger considerable damage? But it was discovered that woodpeckers have a pad of shock absorbent tissue between the base of their bill and their skull which neutralises the impact. Such an incredible anatomical adaptation prompted further research hoping to find clues to help design more effective motorbike crash helmets!
The smart black, white and red bird is also adapting to life around us, making regular appearances at bird feeders across the country. In fact the great spotted woodpecker has been so successful that there has been a fourfold increase in their numbers since the late 1960s. This is due in part to their taking advantage of the food we put out, but they have perhaps benefited from the decline in starlings with whom they compete for nest holes.
If you are lucky enough to see great spotted woodpeckers on your garden bird feeders, take a closer look and see whether ‘your’ bird is male, female or a juvenile later in the year (or perhaps you’ll see the whole family). You can tell who is who by the pattern of red. All three have red under the tail but it is the presence and location of the red patch on their head that distinguishes them – the female has none at all, on the male it’s on his nape and on the juvenile it’s the forehead.
Are you ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch?
Please do spare sixty minutes over 28, 29 or 30 of January to check out the birds you see at home you can download a pack from http://bit.ly/2hBeLKM . You can share photos too, just tag them #BigGardenBirdwatch and post to our twitter account @RSPB_SouthEast
Please record the highest number of each bird species you see 'touchdown' in front of you over your chosen hour, and if you’ve ever seen any of the following at your home:
You then have until Friday 17 February to upload your sightings to our webpage: www.rspb.org.uk/Birdwatch