VIDEO: Sidmouth's 'Strictly' woodpeckers fight for the limelight

One, possibly unsurprising, upshot of lockdown is that without so many people around the natural world comes out to play.

An example of this was captured by Sidmouth Lifeboat crew member, Ben Lemaitre, who filmed two Green woodpeckers performing a bill waving 'dance' in his garden on Peak Hill Road.

In fact, the behaviour is likely to be a territorial display between males, and therefore more of an aggressive exchange than one of intimacy.

The 29-year-old told Nub News: "Most mornings I'll see one woodpecker, but yesterday I was lucky enough to see the two together.

"We have a lot of wildlife visit us here, as we have quite a large garden. There are deers, badgers, foxes and rabbits.

"I'm quite a keen bird watcher and wildlife enthusiast. I've got a bird feeder, that I made and a nesting box. I identify species that I see using a book my grandfather gave me.

"It's amazing to see wild animals becoming less fearless with the recent lockdown and roaming more freely.

"It's like nature taking back control."

While the 'dance-off' displayed in the video is likely to be two males engaged in territorial behaviour defending themselves, no firm evidence became apparent when Nub News researched it.

If there are any Sidmouth bird experts who can shed more light on this and any other interesting bird related news, we would love to hear from you.

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