Woody and the Carpets

Mmm...the post's not big enough for a nest. But it could house a few insects.

A word which I have discovered, and come to use frequently, since moving to Oxfordshire, is 'yaffle', the countryside term for the distinctive cry of the Green Woodpecker. It is one of the staples round here, sometimes accompanied by a glimpse of the bird's greeny-yellow rump as it makes off like an excitable blackbird.

At this time of year, the woodpeckers enjoy 'anting' on our lawn, digging those formidable beaks into something a lot less resistant than tree trunks. One of the mild nuisances of gardening here is the number of ants we encounter when digging. So when we spot Woody at work from a convenient vantage point in our shower every morning, we cheer him on. And her; they were anting romantically together only last week.

We also get the Great-spotted Woodpecker in good numbers, but they are diners on the birdnuts, often our own but even more our neighbours'. Again, we have a comfy observation point, from bed while sipping the early morning tea which I am off to prepare in a minute.

Before I do, I will just add the tail-end of recent Carpety-type, smallish moths here which I need to ID; sorry, this is more a matter of record-keeping than readability:

Common Carpet with beetle friend

Red Twin-spot Carpet

And again, with the spots nice and clear

And for a third time, showing fading

Udea olivalis

Anania coronata, sometimes known attractively as the Elderberry Pearl. A Common Footman is in attendance.