Amateur photographer Martin Le-May was taking part in a country walk with his wife yesterday when he heard distressed squawking and then saw a woodpecker fly past with a weasel on its back.
Le-May feared the worst for the bird as the weasel was obviously trying to kill it and the bird was hopping up and down and fighting for its life, trying desperately to shake the weasel off. Fortunately the bird landed close to the couple and the weasel became distracted by them, allowing the bird to get away – not before Martin had managed to take a few shots of it though.
Martin relayed the story in exquisite detail:
It was a sunny afternoon, with the occasional cloud making the Hornchurch Country Park seem that grey brown dull winter colour even though it was the 2nd March.
My wife, Ann, and I had gone for a walk. I had hoped that she might see a green woodpecker as she has not really seen one before.
As we walked we heard a distressed squawking and I saw that flash of green. So hurriedly I pointed out to Ann the bird and it settled into the grass behind a couple of small silver birch trees. Both of us trained our binoculars and it occurred that the woodpecker was unnaturally hopping about like it was treading on a hot surface.
Lots of wing flapping showing that gloriously yellow/white colour interspersed with the flash of red head feathers. Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the bird flew across us and slightly in our direction; suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life.
Images VIA
The woodpecker landed in front of us and I feared the worst. I guess though our presence, maybe 25 metres away, momentarily distracted the weasel. The woodpecker seized the opportunity and flew up and away into some bushes away to our left. Quickly the bird gathered its self respect and flew up into the trees and away from our sight.
The woodpecker left with its life, the weasel just disappeared into the long grass, hungry.
Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the bird flew across us and slightly in our direction; suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life.
‘The woodpecker landed in front of us and I feared the worst. I guess though our presence, maybe 25 metres away, momentarily distracted the weasel. The woodpecker seized the opportunity and flew up and away into some bushes away to our left. Quickly the bird gathered its self respect and flew up into the trees and away from our sight.
Well there you have it. I don’t think it’s possible to know anything more about this five second incident even if you really wanted to, so instead just check out the photographs on the slideshow. Are they as good as these pictures of a frog riding a beetle though?
