They’re one of the world’s most famous birds.
And now they have been pictured in Donegal for one of the first times ever.
Woodpeckers are know globally for hollowing into trees to nest.
But they only arrived and began breeding in Ireland back in 2005.
And it is thought that they only spread to Donegal and began to settle here very recently.
Well-known local photographer Joe Boland managed to capture these stunning images of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the Muff area recently.
The pictures are of a a female Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Niall Hatch, of Birdwatch Ireland, said that Donegal is one of the last places which woodpeckers have now colonised in Ireland.
“They were first noted here back in 2005 and that was in Wicklow and in Down. These were birds which had traveled across from Wales and from Scotland to settle here.
“This is a female Great Spotted Woodpecker which is the only species of woodpecker there is in Ireland.
“I’m not certain if is is the first sighting of a woodpecker in Donegal but it is certainly one of the first and once they settle there they will almost certainly breed and remain there,” he said.
