Great Spotted Woodpeckers are frequent visitors to the garden and have over the years used both trees (as you might expect) and the metal chimney cowl (less acceptable) form beating out their rhythm. Despite this I have never know where they actually breed.
Today a couple of them were squabbling over the rights to the peanut feeder on the new arch, about halfway down the garden. The winner was this juvenile, I didn't get a look at the other one to know if it was a sibling or parent. The young can be told by their red caps, and somewhat weaker markings.
Walking down Knotts Lane, on my way back from the post office I stopped to chat to someone working in their garden. Like ours this is one of the Village Safari gardens and we compared notes. I mentioned our two bumble-bee nests and I was trumped by this fabulous wasp's nest that he showed me. It could be a Common Wasp's (Vespa vulgaris) or possibly that of German Waps (Vespula germanica). The nest is about the size of a football and is a remarkably beautiful piece of insect architecture.
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