woodpecker behaviour

Popped down to the reserve lunchtime today during a lovely sunny spell. Went to my post on the far bridge and waited. Sure enough after 10 minutes, the great spotted woodpecker turned up. I've decided that I particularly like the beautiful brightly coloured birds - last year I was interested in the kingfisher but haven't seen it for months. Anyhow the woodpecker perched for a few seconds on a higher flat branch, possibly assessing the dangers around it (can an 'it' assess?) and then flew directly to the spot where I'd seen the small hole before. There was a flurry of what seemed like woodshavings and then it seemed to be going backwards and forwards - whether marking territory or squeezing backwards into its small hole. It then disappeared from sight. Sometime I'll have to go into the parkland on the other side to get a better view but it's a bit of a bother. In the next 10 minutes there were a number of visitors to this specific bit of the dead tree tops - it seems quite a social area, though I don't know how welcome they all are at the meeting - wood pigeons, blackbirds? eating what looked like scrambled egg but I doubt this and magpies. Funny how I perceive birds differently: I really like the "beautiful" ones; I dislike the ugly black ones and I'm just about to appreciate a chicken - for lunch!