The last few days have been relatively mild, if a little damp. At the intersection of the Drève de Lorraine and the Drève des Puits I paused. It is good to do so, to slow down and simply wait. Right on cue came the first woodpecker roll of the year.
It was the Greater Spotted (image left), not the Lesser (image right). I couldn’t see the bird, but the roll gives it away. The Greater begins furiously, attacking the trunk with gusto before the sound tails off. The Lesser is more even, slightly longer, just over a second, a steady sewing-machine burst high in the branches.
And what of the Green? It prefers open ground to cathedral beech and, crucially, it does not drum. It yaffles.