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Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!! (1 Viewer)

david2004

david2004

Well-known member
I know most of you have seen these a lot, but I haven't, and definitely not right outside my house! We knew there were GS W'peckers, but today a Lesser made a 5 minute appearance in full view! I took some film with digital cam and snapshots (no digiscoping - I'm new to this kind of thing!)
No Woodpeckers at all have visited the nuts apart from one on the top of the bird table for about 7 secs. Does anyone know why? And how can I encourage them?
I will post pics soon.
 
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Excellent David. I always get excited when I see one. I'm not sure how many of us could honestly claim to have seen these a lot. I certainly wouldn't. I've never subscribed to the theory that they're common but overlooked and I think most people now accept that, although widespread, they're thinly distributed. You're a lucky chap.
 
Bluetail said:
Excellent David. I always get excited when I see one. I'm not sure how many of us could honestly claim to have seen these a lot. I certainly wouldn't. I've never subscribed to the theory that they're common but overlooked and I think most people now accept that, although widespread, they're thinly distributed. You're a lucky chap.
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Thanks, yeah. I never really believed that theory from trying to find them for so long and not being able to. And then suddenly, there one was! Right on my doorstep! I'd seen GSWP's a lot but never LS, as much as I tried. Then I get up to take my glass into the kitchen and there it was! And not only did it stay there instead of flying off as GS's have before when I try to take pictures, it pecked at the wood on the same patch of oak and around it for ages! I managed to see it very clearly! It was great!
 
tp20uk said:
I know most of you have seen these a lot, but I haven't, and definitely not right outside my house! We knew there were GS W'peckers, but today a Lesser made a 5 minute appearance in full view! I took some film with digital cam and snapshots (no digiscoping - I'm new to this kind of thing!)
No Woodpeckers at all have visited the nuts apart from one on the top of the bird table for about 7 secs. Does anyone know why? And how can I encourage them?
I will post pics soon.
Click to expand...
Lucky fellow. I doubt many birders see these little beauties frequently at all; in fact, I've met twitchers for whom they are a demon bird, or whatever the phrase is for one you can't find!
 
Keep a sharp lookout, Helen. They're not usually at all easy to spot because, like I said on another thread, they're not a lot bigger than sparrows, which means they can and do spend a lot of time on quite small branches high up in the trees. But they will come lower.
 
helenol said:
What are the chances of me seeing one in woodland?
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Errm... despite Jason's comment, I should say very slim indeed. If you can id the call, then, in winter when the trees are bare, there is some chance.
 
scampo said:
Errm... despite Jason's comment, I should say very slim indeed. If you can id the call, then, in winter when the trees are bare, there is some chance.
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Why so Steve, because they are difficult to see, or because I'm in woodland?
 
They tend to stick to the tops of oak trees and, so, are very difficult to see. I think you need a good ear and the patience of Jove. And a bundle of luck!

I think many birders struggle to get a single tick each year. Let me know if you get one!

Btw, their call can be heard by clicking here and following the dendrocopus minor link. My experience is that they often make just a single or a couple of "chip" calls and that their drumming is often shorter and lighter than the greater spotted - but it must depend on the type of tree they're using. You'll probably find them more easily by their call than looking into trees.
 
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Helen, I stand by what I said: I think you will see one. But you'll notice that what I carefully didn't say was how long it will take you to see one! Steve's right - they are difficult. But you're in a good part of the world for them (or at least it was good 20 years ago) and, assuming they're around, I'd put money on you seeing one eventually.
 
Bluetail said:
Helen, I stand by what I said: I think you will see one. But you'll notice that what I carefully didn't say was how long it will take you to see one! Steve's right - they are difficult. But you're in a good part of the world for them (or at least it was good 20 years ago) and, assuming they're around, I'd put money on you seeing one eventually.
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Thought there was a catch to it... :D

Patience is a virtue, apparantly.
 
Helen,

They are not restricted to oak trees; although they do spend a lot of time in Spring feeding in them.

They mainly nest in dead alders, though I have seen a nest in a riverside Scots pine.

In Winter they tend to forage quite widely, sometimes through fairly open countryside. Do some homework in your local area; streams with ader and willow, looking for old nest holes in the dead wood of the alders.

Late Winter is a great time to find them by listening for the drumming - if they find a good drumming post they can use it for hours - the sound can carry for half a mile or more; but even when you find one drumming, it may take you a long time to find the bird - they are small and their plumage is a great camoflage against a cloudy sky, through emergent foliage.

They sometimes accompany roving tit flocks in Autumn and Winter so it is possible to bump into them in a lot of broadleaf/mixed woodlands in Southern Britain.

Patience and legwork is the key to this species; once you work an area that holds a pair, you may bump into a bird several times a year.

Cheers,

Andy.
 
Andrew Rowlands said:
They sometimes accompany roving tit flocks in Autumn and Winter so it is possible to bump into them in a lot of broadleaf/mixed woodlands in Southern Britain.


Cheers,

Andy.
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That's a good point. I have seen them twice mixed in with other birds - last year with a group of treecreepers in early spring. I've also seen them in other trees than oka, especially silver birch, but I'm sure old alders would be a favourite as Andrew says, especially in moorland where the alder often seems to take over from the oak.

The trouble with them - for me and others I've met - is that once you've seen one (and it's often a glimpse), you'll yearn for more. There's something very attractive about them. Maybe it's their illusiveness. I can say that I have spent longer patiently listening and looking for this bird than any other.

Best of luck.
 
Thanks everyone to replying my post. I was very lucky to see one. Haven't seen it today though yet. In answer to earlier posts, it was an oak tree I saw it on but it fed very low down and stayed there for a good time, so there's a chance any of us could see one if we are in the right place at the right time!
 
You can see them lower down the canopy in May during courtship. At such a time, they seem oblivious to human presence - just like some teenagers today, I suppose, 'snogging' in the most inappropriate places.

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