Yesterday seems to me worthy of being thought of as Fledgling Day. But this morning has not disappointed either. I was up at first light and the Grey Squirrel, Dunnocks, the ever present Jackdaws and the almost worryingly plump Robin below all put in early appearances. First of all though was this juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker. He or she is still a bit scruffy and only the juveniles have the red cap to such an extent. In the adult males it retreats (?) to the hindcrown or nape and in the females it disappears altogether.
My first thought was that there was something wrong with his or her right eye. Then I wondered if it was not just the nictating membrane, the protective third eyelid, which you can see starting to come across in the left eye in the second photo. But the right eye I am now sure is damaged since it is permanently cloudy, most likely through trauma of some sort, not uncommon for the species. I do hope it will cope and survive but it is of course a major disadvantage.
Last year I saw a female Sparrowhawk several times in the garden and today I am pretty sure I saw a male. As usual with these birds, it was a blink and you’ll miss it moment.
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