Peeping pecker

Taken at Barnwell Country Park near Peterborough. This woodpecker has a nest on a high tree stump not far from the car park, among the conifers that face the main road.

Great spotted woodpeckers are widely distributed from America, through Europe to Japan.

An interesting fact for you: In parts of the UK, great spotted woodpeckers regularly attack wooden nest-boxes. The eggs and more commonly the young of blue tits, great tits, coal tits and nuthatches have all become victims. The woodpeckers gain access to the nest either by enlarging the box entrance or by drilling through the side of the box on a level with the contents.

These woodpeckers have also regularly attacked colonies of nesting house martins by clinging to the side of the inverted mud dome and chipping away a hold. Other victims have included young treecreepers and house sparrows.