My wife and I visited Marbury Country Park today, to see if we could find the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that had been seen there recently.

We walked all round the woodland, but unfortunately were not rewarded with any sighting. However, we did get to see some other birds, which made it an enjoyable day out in spite of the rain and hail. Here's a few photos from the day:

Great Tit (left) & Blue Tit (right)


Long-tailed Tit


The ubiquitous Robin


and as a special treat, a kingfisher

This post was last modified: 21-03-2008 10:16 PM by wild canon.

I saw my first Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at Lee Valley's Cornmill Meadows last week!

For me, this is REALLY frustrating. I think that the Greater Spotted Woodpecker is the one that drums on the trees at this time of year; am I correct?
I have never seen a Greater/Lesser Spotted Woodpecker before, and every time I go to woods or play golf, I can hear them drumming, but I just can't see them! It gets really frustrating! Aaarrrggghhh!
Has anybody got any tips to help me find them? Any would be REALLY appreciated!

Jamie...Lesser Spotted are VERY difficult to spot as they are so small and tend to spend most of their time high up in the trees. I was lucky enough to see one at Amwell NR in the Lee Valley a couple of weeks ago but only because it called out and moved from one tree to another!
Great Spotted are usually a lot easier..they visit feeders in the Lee Valley and give some great photo opportunities. Here's one I took yesterday:


When you hear them drumming, get as close to where you think the sound is coming from and stand quietly, watching the trees for movement.....I'm sure you will see one soon!

Brilliant photos, everyone!

Woodpeckers and kingfishers, life can't be much better .

Kingfisher

Ok, thanks Ian. I used this technique yesterday while out on a walk, becasue I heard a very beautiful tinkery bird song. I looked up into a tree and was rewarded by my first two Goldfinches of the year!

Hi Jamie

They both drum. From memory, the lesser spotted drums more rapidly and in shorter bursts. I've not seen one, although I've seen the middle spotted in Portugal! The green woodpecker doesn't drum.

SCR

Ok cheers. Are you there on holiday at the moment? I see Green Woodpeckers all the time, and I like it when they climb in circles around the trees. They are great fun to watch.

I just about remember holidays..............
No, I went 2 years ago.
I am off work for 3 days tho

Lesser Spotted are very localised. You need to visit a spot that they are known to occur at and listen to the call. Potteric Carr in Doncaster South Yorks or Yarner Woods, Devon are the best spots i've been to see them. Although one did visit my Dad's back garden once!

Lesser spotted don't drum very often. You need to listen more for the call, which is higher pitched than the greater. The problem is that they tend to spend most of their time in the tree tops and as they are only about the size of a sparrow, they are easily overlooked. Only a few days before my visit to Marbury, one of our customers had really good views, so I was hoping that I might be lucky, but I think the weather was against me.

I've ringed Lesser Pecker. They are VERY small!

they bred on one of my sites last year but I didn't see or hear them. They were picked up as part of a scarce woodland bird survey. I know the gs woodpecker call so this may be one to learn for 2008. I found the sound file at http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/