Woodpeckers in Belgium (1 Viewer)

[GWB77]

Is anyone able to point me toward a site in Belgium (or Calais area), or even into Holland, which is reliable for Middle Spotted and Black Woodpecker (for later this month).

All advise is welcome.

 

[Xenospiza]

They are both widespread in Belgium.

My advice would be to look at:

Waarnemingen.be

Waarnemingen.be wil iedereen in staat stellen om waarnemingen op te slaan en te delen, om zo de kennis van de natuur te vergroten.

waarnemingen.be

and

Waarnemingen.be

Waarnemingen.be wil iedereen in staat stellen om waarnemingen op te slaan en te delen, om zo de kennis van de natuur te vergroten.

waarnemingen.be

and then zoom in on the area where you'll be staying (or do you want to make it a day trip?)
If you click on the atlas squares you will see individual locations.

With some comparing of maps, e.g. Domein Vordenstein near Schoten, het Vierkensbroek near Averbode or het Meerdaalbos/Mollendaalbos near St Joris-Weert (Meerdaalbos better for Black, Mollendaalbos better for Middle Spotted) look like good locations for both, but there must be dozens and quite probably better ones... They are also regularly seen in the Forêt de Soignes just south of Watermael-Boisfort (Brussels), but I assume this is a popular place to visit so they may not be that common. Let's hope a Belgian member can give better advice!

Middle Spotted Woodpeckers can be quite vocal early morning, but their most common call can easily be confused with Great Spotted Woodpecker. On a nice February morning you may have a good chance of hearing their jay-like "song" as well.
Black Woodpecker can be a bit hit or miss as they have large territories but wandering around should get you within hearing distance of one calling. They have three very different calls which they like to use.

 

[GWB77]

They are both widespread in Belgium.

My advice would be to look at:

Waarnemingen.be

Waarnemingen.be wil iedereen in staat stellen om waarnemingen op te slaan en te delen, om zo de kennis van de natuur te vergroten.

waarnemingen.be

and

Waarnemingen.be

Waarnemingen.be wil iedereen in staat stellen om waarnemingen op te slaan en te delen, om zo de kennis van de natuur te vergroten.

waarnemingen.be

and then zoom in on the area where you'll be staying (or do you want to make it a day trip?)
If you click on the atlas squares you will see individual locations.

With some comparing of maps, e.g. Domein Vordenstein near Schoten, het Vierkensbroek near Averbode or het Meerdaalbos/Mollendaalbos near St Joris-Weert (Meerdaalbos better for Black, Mollendaalbos better for Middle Spotted) look like good locations for both, but there must be dozens and quite probably better ones... They are also regularly seen in the Forêt de Soignes just south of Watermael-Boisfort (Brussels), but I assume this is a popular place to visit so they may not be that common. Let's hope a Belgian member can give better advice!

Middle Spotted Woodpeckers can be quite vocal early morning, but their most common call can easily be confused with Great Spotted Woodpecker. On a nice February morning you may have a good chance of hearing their jay-like "song" as well.
Black Woodpecker can be a bit hit or miss as they have large territories but wandering around should get you within hearing distance of one calling. They have three very different calls which they like to use.

This is great - thanks for the information and links - really helpful.

Mark

 

[Jon Turner]

We saw Black Woodpecker in our garden when we lived in Schaesburg in Southern Limburg, Netherlands.

 

[pbjosh]

Despite Black WP being more obvious when it is around it tends to have much larger territories, as mentioned. I live in an area where, per eBird / other sites and also national atlas info both are “regular but not common.” Now that I am familiar with calls and behavior and whatnot, I find that I encounter and see Middle Spotted much more frequently than Black. Depending on season / how vocal they are, for part of the year I actually find MSW more than Green…

 

[RTH]

Hi there, this may not be helpful to you anymore because this thread is from February but I was in the Netherlands last week and went to Rozendaalse Bos, a national forest in Holland which is really good for woodpeckers. Saw a black woodpecker within 5 minutes of arriving and a middle-spotted not that long after. Also has lesser-spotted, great-spotted and green woodpeckers. Below is the link for the Google maps page.

Rozendaalse Bos · Unnamed Road, 6891 Rozendaal, Netherlands

âââââ · National forest

goo.gl

Hope this helps.
Rhodes

 

[GWB77]

Hi there, this may not be helpful to you anymore because this thread is from February but I was in the Netherlands last week and went to Rozendaalse Bos, a national forest in Holland which is really good for woodpeckers. Saw a black woodpecker within 5 minutes of arriving and a middle-spotted not that long after. Also has lesser-spotted, great-spotted and green woodpeckers. Below is the link for the Google maps page.

Rozendaalse Bos · Unnamed Road, 6891 Rozendaal, Netherlands

âââââ · National forest

goo.gl

Hope this helps.
Rhodes

Thanks. We went to Park De Hope Veluwe and saw Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted (Great Spotted and Green) plus we heard Black Woodpecker.

 

[temmie]

I just saw this today, but just FYI, with a bit of luck I can find, in one morning in a radius of 5K around my home (between Bruges and Ghent, Belgium, and ranked by probability:
Greater Spotted Woodpecker (easy)
Green Woodpecker (garden bird)
Middle Spotted Woodpecker (not hard, could take some effort)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (often easy to hear but hard to see)
Black Woodpecker (a bit hit or miss, as said, they have a big territorium)

Depending of whether I find a nest, I can greatly increase chances for Black and Lesser Spotted, and for this (finding a nest) I consider end of May the best if someone wants to see all 5 in a single day.

If only I had Wryneck around, and if only Grey-headed Woodpecker was still reliable in Belgium...