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Alex Douglas-Kane shares her experiences and understanding of Discover Nature Awareness


Tuesday 24 May 2011

The Woodpecker led the Concentric Ring


During the tracking course I was teaching on at the weekend and I was explaining to the group about concentric rings/bird language and also how the San Bushmen talk about Zana (The Woodpecker) being the first bird to let them know if anyone was coming.

A short while after explaining this I heard a Great-spotted Woodpecker give off its alarm call and as I looked up and called to the group to pay attention, a Great-spotted flew right past us and some ten seconds or so later the Tit's and other birds started to burst through the woods in hot pursuit one might say of the woodpecker, it appeared that they were following the woodpeckers lead on which direction to fly in, away from the potential danger that they perceived was around.

We then scanned the woodlands in the direction the birds had flown from and sure enough there was a whole bunch of people walking along the broad walk in the woods.

I was only saying to the group just prior to this incident that sometime during the course I will try and throw a concentric ring while they were in their Sit-spots. Well, after that there was no need to throw one, nature as always had done the job for me.

Nice...

Photo Courtesy of Rob Williams: Great-spotted Woodpecker feeding at the nest.

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