A Close Encounter

Fledgling birds are too young to know that caution makes sense

- Julian Rollins

It was a close encounter of the birdy kind that was a little weird, but also rather wonderful.

Out walking on a very hot day I took a break under a tree. I’d just settled down when I heard the unmistakable, chiding ‘chip, chip’ call of a great spotted woodpecker.

It seemed really close by, so I looked up into the branches. It was a while before I realised that the bird was actually an arm’s length away from me – sunbathing on a cleft in the tree trunk.