Another day of research in the woods and another Lesser Spotted Woodpecker found. A female caught, measured, weighed, ringed and released. Pest County, Hungary, this morning.

This old and damaged Wryneck nest box needed some work

Yesterday our Hungarian Woodpecker Group had a day of making new Wryneck nest boxes

The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a "pied", a "black-and-white" woodpecker...

Sadly, there is, once again, a lot of really bad stuff going on. But, my friends, it will pass. Remember, nature does not hurry, yet it accomplishes everything...

Things you find when looking for woodpeckers. Here is a dinner plate sized Fomes fomentarius, a polypore fungus. It has several English names, including Hoof Fungus, Tinder Fungus and Tinder Conk.

And another woodpecker close-up from Hungary... a female Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Another close-up from our ringing/banding day in Hungary... Middle Spotted Woodpecker.

A great session of ringing/banding in Hungary yesterday began with this Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Did you know that today is WORLD BOOK DAY? Well, whether you did or you didn't, to support this occasion I think you really should collect these books!

At last, I got this delivery today...

European Bison, aka Wisent, Bialowieza Forest, Poland. A few days ago.

Not a woodpecker, but when you are in the forest other things sometimes demand your attention! Yesterday in Poland.

New on the blog! Read a sample chapter of The Pied Woodpeckers by Gerard Gorman, due for publication next week 📖 Take a look 👀➡️ https://tinyurl.com/4mvfwmz9 #piedwoodpeckers #europeanwoodpeckers #woodlandbirds #forestbirds #keystonespecies #dendrocopus

I went looking for White-backed Woodpeckers and found this... a Ural Owl. Not a bad distraction😄

An excellent exhibit of different kinds of bird nests in the Přerov Museum, Czech Republic, includes this woodpecker cavity. Very clever and educational.

Another Black Woodpecker foraging site. This hole is a classic, being low down and vertically oblong, This one is about 14cm long but they can be longer, wider, bigger. They typically do this when searching for Carpenter Ants

Black Woodpecker was here. They open up deadwood and search for insect prey inside above the deep snow level. Impressive work, those holes are about 15cm/6 inches long.

Snow can be a good substrate in which to find animal tracks but not always. This here in Hungary is far too fresh, soft and deep.

A covering of snow can reveal who has been about. These are the prints of a Hooded Crow, with my boot (size 45 Euro) for comparison. Budapest, Hungary.

Long-eared Owls are in their winter roosts in settlements across Hungary right now. This one, and a dozen others, not far from Budapest.

There is quite a bit of snow about... Budapest, Hungary

Another visitor to the garden, Great Spotted Woodpecker, (Dendrocopos major). It is a harsh winter, so an easy meal is helpful. Buda, Hungary.

Eurasian Green Woodpecker digging through snow for ants. Not a sharp image as taken through a window.

It is winter, snow on the ground, but Black Woodpeckers carry on... as we all need to. Buda Hills, Hungary

A lot of snow has fallen in Budapest, Hungary, over the last few days but life goes on. As this Eurasian Green Woodpecker knows very well.

Syrian Woodpecker, Budapest, Hungary.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, in Hungary. A close up, in black and white, to get the year going.

A trail I have been on for years...

Just got a great gift, from fellow woodpecker fan Paul Bannick. His new book WOODPECKER, A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF NORTH AMERICAN WOODPECKERS is very impressive. It is full of magnificent photos and a text with a clear conservation angle. I really recommend it. Follow this link: www.paulbannick.com

These are not, as you surely know, woodpeckers! Nevermind, I sometimes look at other birds🤣 So, I was sifting through my photos from earlier this year and found many of European Bee-eaters. Locally common in Hungary and always great subjects!

Looking through some older photos I found this, the aptly named Ground Woodpecker. I've seen a few but never in a tree. In Lesotho.

Another Middle Spotted Woodpecker close-up.

Another from the weekend ringing (banding) session, in Hungary, a Middle Spotted Woodpecker. This is probably a male, but the sexes are difficult to tell apart.

A Syrian Woodpecker female, caught, measured, ringed, photographed and then released. Today, Ócsa, Hungary.

Syrian Woodpecker, adult male, Budapest, Hungary. One of the most "urban" picids on earth.

We did a "Woodpecker Walk" at the Wild Goose Festival in Tata, Hungary on Saturday. Over 50 people came along! It is not easy finding woodpeckers on a cold November day, certainly not to so many people, but we managed to get just about everyone onto a very good one... a Grey-headed Woodpecker.

My colleagues and I in the Hungarian Woodpecker Group (HVSZ) have just set up a 3rd species focused working group, on Syrian Woodpecker, to add to our two existing ones on Wryneck and White-backed Woodpecker.

We, the Hungarian Woodpecker Group, had our annual meeting at the weekend in the Mátra Hills. Besides paperwork and planning, etc, we always include time in the woods. And that's my favourite bit!

A Wryneck from spring in Hungary. Where is it now? Wintering in Africa, southern Europe, Iberia or perhaps somewhere else?

Here is another juvenile Syrian Woodpecker from Hungary. Just look at those brownish nasal bristles

Just got this book, Mammal Tracks of Europe: a field guide to the tracks and trails of European Mammals by David Wege. A guide to the signs of 72 European mammals. It’s simply laid out, very useful. I recommend it. E-book here davidwegenature.uk/product/mamm...

Syrian Woodpecker, on a wooden pole in a village in Hungary.

Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus). A male up close.

Another page from THE PIED WOODPECKERS. Due out in February. Hope you are enjoying these teasers!

Another sample page from my next book THE PIED WOODPECKERS. I hope I am not boring you. @pelagicpublish

Another sample page from my next book THE PIED WOODPECKERS. Out this coming February.

A male White-backed Woodpecker in Austria. This photo will be in my next book THE PIED WOODPECKERS, out in February.

Portrait of a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major).

Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Can you sex this one? Male or female?