Stunned

Returning to the house after walking the Spaniels, we came across a bundle of feathers on the drive, just below the Sitting room window.   

Best beloved picked up what transpired to be a juvenile Greater Spotted Woodpecker. ( The red 'cap' shows that it is not adult. When mature, the 'cap' fades, and will become black. The males will then develop a red patch on the back of the neck.) We feared the worst, initially, but realised it must be merely stunned, as it kept turning it's head, so we put it onto the bird table, expecting it to fly off.

 

There was no reaction, other than the head turning, so it was obviously more incapacitated than we had assumed. So, we went to put it on the bench, which is nearer the hedge, and also out of the direct sun. The Woodpecker lifted it's feet, so B.B. gently held it against the back of the bench, and it grasped a horizontal bar, and clung on. At that point, we left it to recover as best it could, knowing that the Spaniels could not get into the front garden and bother it.
The bird stayed where we had left it for about an hour and a half. Both of us were thinking that it would not recover, by this time. Then we realised that it was gone.
We have two families of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers in the area, both of which use our feeders. We have never seen one in such circumstances before.