While out exploring the woods behind the flat again, I heard a very strange noise coming towards me. Not long after, a huge Woodpecker flew over my head and landed in the trees in front of me. Sure enough it was a Black Woodpecker (Europe's largest Woodpecker - roughly the size of a Crow!!). At first he would only take a quick look at me, and then hide behind the tree! This continued for a while.
But eventually he got used to me being there, and decided to come over and introduce himself.
This bird looks quite scruffy, because he's molting his feathers. This is something birds do every year. From this picture though, I can tell that it's a male - the red on the crown covers the whole of the head (only the back half is red on a female), and if you look at the primary feathers on his wing, at least one of them is browner in colour (this one hasn't been molted). Juvenile feathers are a lot duller/browner in colour in Black Woodpeckers.
Superb mate ! :-)
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