Although there were a few scarcities dotted around the southeast at this time, David and I had agreed to spend the morning targeting the most outstanding omission from my British list; Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Having dipped the species in six counties on numerous occasions, my quest for this species in the UK had become a bit tiresome. Combine that with the woodpeckers dramatic decline across the UK, and it added another layer of urgency to the mission.
We arrived at our
woodland of choice at around 09:00 and began to search. The wood was incredibly
lively with commoner woodland species, but also with a few other goodies such
as a smart male Brambling among the hundreds of Chaffinches. It was very
enjoyable, and our woodpecker count make good progress, several Great Spotted Woodpeckers
were seen and a Green Woodpecker was heard on few occasions.
After about 40 minutes
of searching, and hearing a few promising drumming notes, we managed to locate
a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the canopy! Mission accomplished! Sadly it was
distant and as we approached it moved off. We tried to follow it, but it kept
moving and eventually we lost it. About 20 minutes later we managed to locate
it, or another, nearby low down, but it was too quick for me and moved away rapidly
before proper views could be had. It called a few times from the canopy but we
were unable to follow it.
After so many dips
over the years, it was quite the relief to finally set eyes on this beauty!
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