Image of a woodpecker in flight with a weasel on its back trends on Twitter
Shared on Twitter by a “birder and wildlife photographer” named Jason Ward, our Picture of the Week shows a woodpecker attempting to fly with a weasel on its back.
Backed up with three secondary images showing the bird and weasel landing and on the ground, this extraordinary set of photographs was taken by someone named Martin Le-May at Hornchurch Country Park in East London.
Of the incident Le-May told Buzzfeed:
“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 meters 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”.
Ward captioned the image he shared with the comment: “Apparently the woodpecker escaped”. Here, indeed, is a bird that certainly kept its pecker up.
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