Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

[mickster1978]

Hello all!!

I am new on here but been reading various threads for a while.

Just wanted to hear some opinions.

I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Richmond Park at the weekend... my first.
It was in a tree about 10ft away giving cracking views.

I was interested in thoughts on how good a bird this is these days? I know people dont see many!

[thebeard]

like all birds its pretty darn good! though i think you mean whether it was a good sighting. i've not seen one and i know a good few people here either haven't seen one in years or not at all.

in the right locations they can be found with some effort (apparently), but they are certainly the rarest of our three woodpecker species. so a good sighting yes!

[darrenm]

It's a superb find and like the other posts have stated it is a very hard species to locate these days through the species going into a very rapid decline in the last few decades and even in former stronghold areas such has in the parklands of Nottinghamshire it is a very hard bird to track down and i can now go a couple of years without seeing one.

When we talked about this last time i forgot about Woolaton Park and is another place i have connected with this species in the last four years in Notts and not just at Attenborough, Colwick, Clumber Park which are all worth searching in the winter and spring before the buds start to open. Scanning the tops of smaller trees is worth doing in the winter and early spring and even reed beds during winter time can attract them.

Greater Spotted Woodpeckers on the other hand now seem to be doing fairly well just about everywhere in lowland Britain.

[Jason Claxton]

Hi Mickster1978
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker is a good bird near me,but under-recorded for sure,it can be elusive(I hear more than I see) ,but once you're familar with the call you will be alerted to its presence.Hope you get plenty more.


Cheers Jason

[darrenm]

Even locating the call is hard work in Nottinghamshire these days

but Clumber Park around the Chapel would still be my best bet in the Nottinghamshire area but arrive well before the crowds of daytrippers

[mickster1978]

Thanks all...
Been a part time bird watcher since I was a kid (my Dad being a birding lunatic!) and was always surprised I had never seen one.

Didnt know they had gone into such decline.

Even more pleased I saw it so close, and for sunch a decent amount of time now!

[aeshna5]

They are regular in Richmond Park, but can be very elusive. I haven't managed to see one up there yet this year- I visit roughly once a month. A declining species, so always a good find!

[Jason Claxton]

Also with Lesser-spot ,the habitat preference near me tends to be for very damp areas with lots of birch and/or Alder.

Cheers Jason.