The 2019 Report on breeding Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers is published.
Thanks everyone for your contributions to understanding breeding Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and for finding so many nests in 2019!
This year we have excellent and important data from 23 nests in 9 different counties – our best year since we started the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker project in 2015.
The report gives details of the progress of the breeding season and some of the setbacks facing Lesser Spots, the nests found and the outcomes with the number of young fledged.
The season had many dramas - Marsh Tits ousting Lesser Spots from an active nest cavity - predation of chicks by Great Spots - young woodpeckers starving in the nest in bad weather.
Highs and lows - the highest ever nest viewed with the nest inspection camera at 17.4 metres in a poplar tree and the lowest ever at head height in a birch tree.
The satisfaction in watching the young fledge the nest successfully.
You can view and/or download the full report from this link or from the news page.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the project this year, for all the time and effort spent searching for and observing these lovely birds, to enable us to understand them better.
