River Birds

The Great Spotted Woopecker has to be in my top 10 of birds to photograph in the UK. With its instantly recognisable black and white feathers and splash of bright red beneath their tail, while the Juvenile Woodpecker has as red crown which changes to black as they grow older. They are only about 22-23cm in size and typically live around 2 years, although this can be significantly longer with one documented Woodpecker living up to 12 years old. You’ll more than often hear the sounds of their drumming echoing through the woodland, as it searches for tree trunks for insects, long before you’ll actually spot one. It takes a lot of patience to photograph these, learning where to find them, without disturbing them and being in the right spot at the right time waiting for the perfect moment.