Black Woodpecker

With Libby's sister, Sally, here for Easter we took a trip north of Copenhagen today to Dyrhavn, the former royal hunting grounds, now a popular walking/picnic area. Part of the park is taken up by Europe's oldest amusement park, Bakken, which includes a wooden roller coaster.. Needless to say I didn't partake in any of the rides but Libby and Sally screamed their way around the circuit with hair flailing and smiles beaming.. After a spot of lunch, the girls went to a "5-D" movie while I had a quick search around the park for Black Woodpecker (Dyrhavn being a favoured spot for this scarce Danish bird). I didn't have long to wait as, within about 100 yards of the park, I heard a Black Woodpecker call and then, a couple of minutes later, an adult male flew down to a pile of rotten logs just a few yards from me. There it fed for about 20 minutes before eventually flying up to a nearby tree stump, sticking its tongue out a few times as if to lick its lips, and then flew off north calling. The best views I have ever had of Black Woodpecker by some margin. With Black Woodpeckers so close to the wooden rollercoaster, I would hope its structure is checked regularly! :-) A few hundred metres away I also watched a female feeding on a dead stump (see photos). Very confiding. Also seen were Nuthatch and Hawfinch, bringing my Danish list up to alofty 98 species. Not a great day, weatherwise, it being pretty cold (about 6 degrees) and drizzly but fun was had by all...