のぞいてみたい　キツツキの巣の中　アカゲラ編

Many woodpeckers are very closely tied to trees for food and raising their young, and cannot survive without forests. I used to live in a forest, so it was normal to see woodpeckers like Great Spotted Woodpeckers around my house. However, as the number of houses has increased, the surrounding trees have decreased, and the number of woodpeckers has also decreased significantly. I have photographed woodpecker nests near my house more than a dozen times, but due to the nature of woodpeckers, I could not see the chicks until they were close to fledging. However, with the advent of the digital age, after the era of film photography, and the emergence of special cameras, it has become possible to see inside the nests, which was previously impossible, leading to this photographic opportunity. Even if you find a woodpecker nest, you cannot photograph the inside unless the conditions are right, such as the height and location of the nest, and preparations must be made well in advance. However, even for observation purposes, photographing inside the nest places a great deal of stress on the birds, so I kept the time spent photographing to a minimum and took the utmost care to avoid causing them to abandon the nest. I am relieved to have confirmed that the chicks successfully fledged in both of my photography sessions with the Great Spotted Woodpecker and the Japanese Green Woodpecker. Location: Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture