Great Spotted Woodpecker, nesting in a fence post?!

[PeteIsntAPuffin]

Hey guys - I'm new here.. And in fact, I'm new to the whole birdwatching craze.. So please, bear with me..

While driving along the other day, I pulled up at some traffic lights, and noticed a GS Woodpecker on a fencepost about 15ft from the side of the road, which as you can imagine, got me all excited but then I watched it do something extraordinary - it stuck it's head into the hole where, I assume, the horizontal part of the fence used to be.

So, letting curiosity get the better of me, I turned around at first opportunity, before finding a place to park, and walked back towards the fencepost, but on the other side of the road, so as not to disturb it.

I watched for about 20 minutes, as the woodpecker kept coming back to the same spot, sticking his head in the hole, and flying away again. Unfortunately my eyes aren't good enough to be able to tell if he/she was bringing food, or taking food away.

After a while, I decided to head home, and was planning on asking the next RSPB rep I found, about it - that is until I stumbled across this forum..

So has anyone else ever heard of anything like this? The fencepost was an old wooden one, about 20-25cm in diameter.. But right on the edge of some bushes. Could the woodpecker REALLY have chicks in there? Or d'you think it's got lucky and come across a whole bunch of insects chilling out in there?

ps. sorry if this is the wrong forum, and sorry for the length of the post.. I have a tendency to waffle

[Pipa]

no idea but im jealous you got to watch it up close

[PeteIsntAPuffin]

Originally Posted by Pipa

no idea but im jealous you got to watch it up close

I wasn't that close.. I was a good 50m or so away.. Probably more

Wish I'd had my binoculars with me but alas, I'd left them at home (usually they stay in my car at all times)

I made it my aim to see a Great Spotted woodpecker this summer (as I'd never seen one before) and have so far seen 4..

[Pipa]

Originally Posted by PeteIsntAPuffin

I wasn't that close.. I was a good 50m or so away.. Probably more

Wish I'd had my binoculars with me but alas, I'd left them at home (usually they stay in my car at all times)

I made it my aim to see a Great Spotted woodpecker this summer (as I'd never seen one before) and have so far seen 4..

hehe, i've never seen one in the flesh (or should we say "in the feather" lol before either, so i'm still jealous

wow, how cool that you spotted 4 when you set a goal to see one

[PeteIsntAPuffin]

Originally Posted by Pipa

hehe, i've never seen one in the flesh (or should we say "in the feather" lol before either, so i'm still jealous

wow, how cool that you spotted 4 when you set a goal to see one

I know

I spotted one at Thurstaston Common on the Wirral, then a week later one flew over the fairway while I was playing golf, then a few days later I saw one at Moore nature reserve in Warrington, then last week I had this encounter. Unbelievable. Wait my whole life for one then 4 come along at once!

[werdnal]

It is possible, as they have nested in some old fashioned wooden pylon poles here. Any rotten wood similar to a tree will do. The poles were replaced last year, and they company left the old ones on the ground, and you could clearly see the nest cavity which had been excavated out. The new pylons have decoy woodpeckers attached to them, to try to deter them wrecking them again!

Ours come to the bird table for most of the year, but always disappear around now to raise their young. They will no doubt be back soon with a fledgling or 2 in tow.

[scout]

Is it possible that a Blue Tit was nesting in the hole and the GSW was taking chicks?

[PeteIsntAPuffin]

werdnal - you get them on your table? SOOOO jealous

We've had a Lesser Spotted in our garden once, about 4 years ago. That's all though I didn't even see it, my mum did

&scout, that's definately possible - as I said in the OP, I couldn't tell from the distance I was at whether the woodpecker was bringing food to the post, or taking something away. But, while I was watching, it went to the fence post 5 times, which is what made me wonder whether it would be a nest of it's own, rather than a food source..

EDIT: Though, saying that, surely I'd have noticed if it was carrying a chick in it's beak

[Bobby D]

My elder brother who lives in South Wales has a woodpecker nesting in a fire tree in the garden, at times the bird will fly down onto the bird feeder and feed from the nuts.

[DOXHOPE]

Ive a pair nesting very colse by..but the place is so bloody dark, these shots were taken at 1600 iso to try and get something decent..