I have said numerous times on the blog over the last 6 years  that it's very satisfying to plan something and get a result when the plan works.  As you may have read in my previous posts in the last few days, I have set up a feeding station near to my home.  I am trying  to get woodpeckers and siskins  to come to a feeder placed out in the open.   This will then give me the chance to try to photograph them in flight which I find, not only a big challenge but  very revealing when it comes together.  I pushed peanuts in to holes in a dead tree stump and hoped that eventually Great spotted Woodpeckers would fly in to feed on them.  Of course, woodpeckers will come down to a peanut feeder without too much persuasion but it doesn't make for a very photogenic image but when birds are feeding or perched on a tree trunk, it's so much more appealing and natural and makes for a much better photograph.   I popped up there for a short while this afternoon and was chuffed to see not only Nuthatches coming to the old stump but also a male Great spotted Woodpecker, just as I hoped one would.  I am sure that as soon as we have  bright light I am going to have some real success with woodpeckers in flight.  So here's one of the shots that I took today.  The light was poor and I didn't have a tripod or large 500 lens with me but the result shows what promise there is to come.  

About my Blog:     The Blog may be going private very soon, I am yet to make the final decision.   I have been upset by negative comments recently and not for the first time either.  I started the blog in the first instance to just keep a record of what I saw and photographed and I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't share this with others but it seems that I was  wrong and there really are some pretty awful people out there.  Recently it was tweeted that I only took and posted photos because of my ego, what a crass comment that is and totally unnecessary.   If it does go private and you want to continue reading my blog just let me know and I will send you the password once I know who you are.