IT'S AN ILL WIND...........

 Thursday was Doris day. Not the singer, the storm. Maybe it was the storm that bought this stunning male Green Woodpecker into the shelter of my front garden.

 We do get the occasional garden visit from these birds but generally we hear them in the surrounding orchards and paddocks rather than see them.

This chap must have found an ant's nest I think. He stayed for at least half an hour and spent most of the time with his beak in the grass.....

..... surfacing every second or so to check for the local Sparrowhawk, and for me.

I've lost count of the times i've tried to get close enough to one to get a half decent picture, they always see me coming. 

But i'll settle for these despite being behind glass. Thankfully the window cleaner came a couple of days earlier.

After filling up on ants, he sat for a while looking quite relaxed and I got on with the decorating.