Did the long winter torment you as much as it did me? The cold season was particularly protracted this year. As a wildlife filmmaker, I naturally try to look ahead and have a clear plan of what I want to film each month. However, I didn't expect to be filming snow in April.
But the last few days and weeks have made up for a lot. The Landscape comes back to life and the summer birds returning from their wintering grounds enrich our biodiversity. Even before their arrival, our year-round bird species are already fully prepared for spring.
Tip: By the way, I took the pictures with the camera "Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5SEG-K" (is available here*). The lens was the "Panasonic H-RS100400E9" (is available here*).
The courtship of the great spotted woodpecker
As every year, the drumming of the great spotted woodpecker heralds the transition from winter to spring and is unmistakable. It marks the courtship of the great spotted woodpecker and is mainly practiced by male great spotted woodpeckers.
He uses it to demarcate his territory, displaces male competitors and at the same time tries to attract a female. After arriving in the male's breeding area, the latter also looks for a preferably dead branch and communicates with her potential admirer by drumming.
In my spring video you get an impression of a drumming female, which you can see on the only black and white neck can be identified. The male, on the other hand, has a red spot on the back of the neck.
Together, the two great spotted woodpeckers create a Special spring concert in the forestwhich makes the hearts of nature lovers beat faster. It's always amazing how some animal species can communicate with each other.
Spring time is breeding time
In addition to its great acoustics, the great spotted woodpecker also has a very important role. As natural "carpenter" Every year it creates several breeding cavities in trees, which are then used by many other animals. These include the crested tit featured in my video, the chaffinch and the nuthatch. They all appreciate the work of the great spotted woodpecker and rent a nest from him.
For example, the Wren. It builds its own nests and then looks for a conspicuous branch from which it wants to attract a female to its self-built nest with its song.
I was able to see the small and agile wren this March. finally captured well after several attempts. It is very difficult to film it, as its brown color is hardly noticeable in its habitat and it rarely sits still for long periods of time.
I hope you like my little spring video. I will of course keep you up to date here with more spring impressions from the past few days and the coming weeks. Until then, just enjoy the time outside. It is worth it.
Many greetings,
PS: In my Wildlife Blog of CareElite you can get more impressions of the wilderness in Germany. For example you can find there my best shots of the german wilderness 2017 see
