The Bashful Woodpecker...

On Sunday morning I joined in with the Big Garden Birdwatch, as you may know I always feed the birds anyway and see a huge variety every day. However, on Sunday morning, just for the hour when I was doing my count, I didn't see anything like as many birds as I normally do. The woodpecker turned up two minutes after I'd finished, and he seems to be there most of the time on an average day. I have had a word with them all since, and hope they will be better behaved next year!
​We went for our usual trundle round the meadows on Tuesday morning, and Dick got a bit ahead of me as I was taking photos (again!). Anyway, when I caught up with him he was leaning on the big Beech gazing back in the direction we had come from. As this looked a little strange I took a photo, and then assailed him with a jaunty "Hello", he jumped out of his skin and said "how did you get there?", "I walked" was my helpful (but honest) reply. Apparently he was watching the path with the attention of jumping out at me, and was a little put out that I was the one who made him jump. I don't know how he missed seeing me approaching - I'm neither small nor fast!
​There are some lovely new items on the website which I put on this morning. The sale has ended, but although many items are back to full price, there is now a reduced to clear section.