Uproar in the Woods

Today, during my morning walk through the woods with Spike, the alarm was raised. From a distance, I could already hear the call of the Black Woodpecker, but the crows, a Eurasian Jay, and the titmice were also making quite a racket—thanks to a bird language course with Wurzeltrapp, I now pay attention to such things. Unfortunately, due to the dense canopy, I couldn’t make out who was responsible for all the commotion, but it must have been something dangerous.

At any rate, the young Black Woodpecker perched on the exposed branches of a dead tree, allowing me to snap a few pictures. Beautiful? The bird, certainly; the perspective and lighting, definitely not—but then again, I have only ever seen a Black Woodpecker on the forest floor once before, and it was back up in the treetops faster than I could even raise my camera. A treehouse in the canopy and a boat for the lakes… now that would be a dream come true.