breathless woodpecker?

[Lemars]

The sound from the hole in this tree seems endless - at least it has been each time I've been anywhere near it.

The hole is about 20' from the ground and I'm presuming it contains a woodpecker. I've not seen any adult activity and that's perhaps why the offspring is so desperate. I also realise that woodpeckers won't go near their nest if I'm anywhere in the vicinity - but surely so much noise is more than adequate as a location announcement.
Woodpecker nests (so I've read) are frequently used by starlings too - but surely this is no starling?

Could anyone identify from the sound please - it was enough to give me earache !!

YouTube - constant cry from a tree.MOV

Many thanks

[Deb London]

Sounds very much like the begging calls of juvenile woodpeckers to me.


http://www.xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=35006

[The Woodman]

Removed my comment due to my failing ears.

[FUDGEY]

Great Spotted Woodpeckers, the first time I heard this from a distance I thought it was an Oystercatcher

[Lemars]

Thank you all very much. I'm sorry you had such difficulty, Woodman, but perhaps your ears are much more finely tuned than mine. I missed the robin completely.

And I'm so pleased that I now have some confirmation of what it might be. I'm off over there with binoculars today - I just wish I had camouflage of some sort...............
C

[The Woodman]

Well done Fudgey, I'll pull my comments in the last post.

[FUDGEY]

No probs Woodman, I only knew as I have came across it several times.

Lemars, you wont need a hide as such. Just sit still & quietly at a reasonable distance and they will come and feed them. If you can not see it from a distance just take an old sheet or something as that will do fine.

[Lemars]

Thank you Fudgey - I didn't get there last night, so hopefully I'll manage it tonight and I'll take a sheet. That should make the locals gape (it's next to a track used as a short-cut).
C

[Lemars]

Who was it suggested Greater Spotted Woodpecker - FUDGEY !!

Full marks - though I daren't post the photos I took for shames sake. My camera just isn't up to distance (brilliant close shots - well, for me, anyway). I had to move from the track to allow a tractor to pass and that's the only place - obscured by leaves most of the time - where I could get a view.

The parents were around, but I didn't really get to see them. Every time they seemed to be in the vicinity some pesky fly would land on me (or a tractor would want to pass) and they'd fly off.
The blurred shots of the offspring yelling out of the hole JUST made identification possible. I thought - at first - that it was a Lesser-spotted woodpecker, but the books soon put me right.
The red on the head of an adult Lesser-spotted isn't there on a juvenile. It's there on a juvenile Greater-spotted though - so Fudgey gets the prize.

Thank you all for your help. If time permits, I may go and have another look - though I suspect it/they might be out of that nest pretty soon.

Noisy little varmints though - there's another nest nearby. Stereo squawking !!

C

[Lemars]

And as further confirmation see this:

YouTube - tired of waiting woodpecker infant.MOV

the quality is the best I can do with the kit I have, but it's not too bad a clip - considering.

PS It's best on full screen and fully downloaded before viewing.

C