{"id":5331,"date":"2014-06-27T17:19:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T16:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/?p=5331"},"modified":"2014-06-27T17:19:01","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T16:19:01","slug":"rare-black-woodpecker-spotted-near-dalston-cumbria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/2014\/06\/rare-black-woodpecker-spotted-near-dalston-cumbria\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare black woodpecker spotted near Dalston, Cumbria ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a scene which can only be described\u00a0as Pythonesque whilst out on my walk this morning, I came across a bird that appeared to be hard at work burrowing into a wooden electricity pole.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a>
Black woodpecker decoy fixed to electricity pole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But all was not as it seemed as I got closer and realised that the bird, just like to one in\u00a0the famous Parrot Sketch<\/a>, was stuck\u00a0to its perch.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Black woodpecker decoy is installed to scare off real woodpeckers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rare Black Woodpecker, or at least an image of what I think is one, was fixed high above me onto a wooden electricity pole near Dalston in north Cumbria.<\/p>\n

Interestingly holes appeared to have been made in the pole below where the decoy was attached. I was unsure if these were to make the woodpecker appear to be more genuine.<\/p>\n

Further internet research\u00a0whilst writing this article indicated that United Utilities<\/a> have been using decoys to prevent damage to wooden poles for at least nine\u00a0years.<\/p>\n

News stories have even been published after long range sightings of a similar installation near Keswick prompted a Twitching ‘frenzy ‘.<\/p>\n

News and Star newspaper:\u00a0<\/span>Metal Woodpecker fools Bird spotter<\/a>.<\/span><\/em>
\n BBC News: <\/span>Scaring away the birds for safety’s sake<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Pole damage from woodpeckers<\/h3>\n

It appears that damage caused by woodpeckers to electricity poles is a multi-million pound global problem.<\/p>\n

In Alabama, USA, \u00a0one utility spokesman\u00a0reports <\/a>that woodpecker damage\u00a0costs his company more than $3 million per year. <\/span><\/p>\n

The article in the Los Angeles Times goes on to say that\u00a0officials at Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in San Francisco estimate that woodpeckers damage between 200 and 300 poles a year, costing an annual $250,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fighting back<\/h4>\n

Looking around the web\u00a0it appears that a lot of effort is going into research<\/a> and re-engineering to\u00a0secure power grids. Some companies are installing new poles made from composite materials whilst others are painting existing poles with special paints.<\/p>\n

Do you know of other locations where woodpecker decoys have been installed, why use a Scandanavian bird, or who makes these decoys? Let me know in the comments area below.<\/p>\n

Until next time<\/p>\n

Licks and wags<\/p>\n

Charlie<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0\u00a0If you want to see the decoy for yourself it is near to the Nestle Milk factory on the Carlisle – Dalston cycle path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a scene which can only be described as pythonesque whilst out on my walk this morning, I came across a bird with what appeared to be hard at work burrowing into a wooden electricity pole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":5334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,681],"tags":[5180,2761,2099,5177,5178,5179,5176],"class_list":["post-5331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-expeditions","category-featured","tag-bla","tag-dalston","tag-damage","tag-electricity-pole","tag-monty-python","tag-rare-black-woodpecker","tag-woodpecker","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/woodpecker_decoy_dalston_wooden_pole_cut_01-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/woodpecker_decoy_dalston_wooden_pole_cut_01-600x519.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/author\/mogsy\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5331"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5344,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331\/revisions\/5344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}