Rob Clements was searching an area of the New Forest north east of Lyndhurst on Friday and reports that Lesser Spots were very active between 8-9 am, with lots of drumming involving 4-5 birds. Nigel Owen saw a pair chasing at another site in the Forest at 9.15 am.
Rob has been surveying Lesser Spots for the past three years in the New Forest. He found a successful nest in 2015 in a birch tree. The site was not used in the following year. In 2016 he saw birds excavating a nest cavity very high in a beech tree however when we inspected it with the video camera the nest was complete but no eggs had been laid. For more details see the 2015 and 2016 Lesser Spot Newsletters.
In previous years Rob and his team of volunteers have concentrated on mapping Lesser Spot territories but this year they are concentrating on nest-finding in hope of discovering current breeding success.
If you have any sightings in the New Forest or would like to join his team of volunteers, please contact Rob direct at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
