Spring has sprung at Tuna Park: witness the frequent and sharp bursts of drumming woodpeckers from dawn til dusk.  We are blessed with just about every variety of woodpecker I have heard of, those of us lucky enough to live in this crisp, clean part of Europe.  I have seen the quite unmistakeable black woodpecker a little further north from here, and last weekend I heard the equally unmistakeable laughter (or yaffle, if you prefer) of the iconic green woodpecker.

But this morning, the drumming was a little harsher than usual.   And although he may be merely a humble greater spotted, he was still posing proudly atop the lamppost outside our house -that is, when he wasn’t beating the hell out of it with his head.

Dendropocus major, the greater spotted woodpecker, or locally, större hackspett, telling the world that Tuna Park is his territory.  (And we know he’s a he: note the flash of red on the nape of the neck).