our perception of things are sometimes shaped by what we watched in the reel world, like the cartoons that we watched when we were kids. as a kid, all of us enjoyed watching the animated cartoon 'woody woodpecker'. my formed idea of a woodpecker had been: it was a big, loud bird which was not afraid of humans. in reality, it is so different.
my first encounter with a woodpecker was at bukit batok nature park. i was alerted by the 'tok tok' sound made by the bird when it pecked on the trunk of an old tree. what i had imagined to see was different from what i saw. yes, i was thrilled to see a woodpecker in singapore but the size of the bird was kind of a disappointment. it was about the size of a mynah.
today, i came across another woodpecker on a tree near the main bridge over the sungei buloh besar. it was not making any sound with its beak. i noticed it because of the colours. it had yellow, black and white feathers; more yellow than the other two colours. like the bukit batok's woodpecker, it was not a big bird.
i think there are bigger ones, even in singapore. it is just that those i have come across so far are the smaller ones.
from what i can gather, the woodpecker that i saw at sungei buloh wetland reserve was a lesser golden backed woodpecker.
