Great Spotted Woodpecker

[k4t3]

I have just been so lucky in having a beautiful Great Spotted Woodpecker visit my feeding station! I have never ever seen one of these birds before and it has truly made my morning. I would like to know though, what sort of things should I be putting out to encourage the bird back again? I currently put out a range of food- wild bird seed, peanuts, fat balls, black sunflower seeds, mealworms and suet pellets- and this has resulted in around 20 species of birds visiting the garden (I feel so priviledged!)
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated and I hope to see the Woodpecker on a more regular basis.

[JeffH]

Lucky you k4t3 - they're great birds to have as garden visitors

We have several GSWs visiting our garden on a regular basis and their preferred foods are peanuts and fat ball mixture.

However, rather than using conventional feeders I've found that they seem to prefer something more natural such as a piece of tree branch drilled with holes into which peanuts and fat ball mixture can be placed - as shown in the photo below of an adult and a juvenile bird feeding together on my improvised feeding station -



This also gives a much more natural setting for photography and you can see from the photo just how much the birds have enlarged the holes I drilled.

I hope your GSW continues to visit your garden

Jeff

[k4t3]

Thanks Jeff, I have seen the wood feeders with the suet mix inside and will now give them a try! Anything to see the woodpeckers again- and also to get photos as my mum does not believe me!

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by k4t3

Thanks Jeff, I have seen the wood feeders with the suet mix inside and will now give them a try! Anything to see the woodpeckers again- and also to get photos as my mum does not believe me!

You're welcome and good luck with the photos

Jeff