Green Woodpecker & Red Admiral sunning on Treelipede sculpture in Stroud, then bird probing for ants

What a treat to see a juvenile #GreenWoodpecker and a #RedAdmiral sunning themselves on our Treelipede* sculpture the other day. The first shot is out of an upstairs window, the second from downstairs, again through the window (bit of reflection but a clear shot which reveals the butterfly), and finally a series of shots as I crept out and commando-crawled behind garden chairs to get closer. Green woodpeckers are normally quite flighty so I was surprised at how tolerant this bird was, flying down and feeding at different ants' nests in the grass. The slightly streaked plumage tells us this is a juvenile female, so perhaps she was just naive and didn't quite know what it was that was creeping towards her!

*I should explain that the Treelipede was the result of me having to reduce the crown of a Yellow Poplar tree growing too close to the house for the second time; I cut all the shoots from the first cut a few years previously at the same height, then (with a rope and a weight to make sure it fell the right way) sawed through the main trunk. When inverted, it becomes a many-legged creature that moves around the lawn (mainly with my assistance when I mow the grass).
#gardenwildlife #wildlifegardening

Видео Green Woodpecker & Red Admiral sunning on Treelipede sculpture in Stroud, then bird probing for ants канала Ian Redmond