Lesser Spot Network
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker conservation project supporting birdwatching volunteers to find & record Lesser Spots, their nests & breeding outcomes. Posts by Ken & Linda Smith, website www.woodpecker-network.org.uk
- First LSW visit for 2026 and two birds seen chasing each other. Here’s a (very poor quality) video of a female. The Blean, Kent, 31st January
- Lesser spot in the Wyre forest weather perfect for these stunning birds also 🏴birds started drumming today 😀@lesserspotnet.bsky.social
- ✂️ Yesterday I finally responded to @agakowalska.bsky.social’s challenge to make a collage from a single piece of packaging. I present to you a green (tea) woodpecker, made from a big Yorkshire Tea box. It was fun and I’ll be rooting through our recycling bin for more materials later on ♻️
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- Happy Christmas to one and all
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- Thanks to everyone who came along at #BES2025 to chat about my work on phenological synchrony with @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social and @piedflynet.bsky.social Even for specialist species, mismatch may only matter in years where resources are scarce 🐦🐛 If I missed you at the conference, get in touch!
- If you're at the @britishecologicalsociety.org #BES2025 in Edinburgh and interested in #phenology, come and find me for a chat about how resource abundance modulates the impacts of the trophic #mismatch. My poster is A17.21 in the Cromdale Hall, and I'll be there from 6pm this evening! 🌳 -> 🐛 -> 🐦
- Bioacoustics as a tool for the detection and monitoring of a scarce woodland bird – the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker paper now live in the latest British Birds journal. Read more:
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- ⚠️ The UK’s smallest and rarest woodpecker, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a shy and elusive bird. It’s rapidly becoming one of our scarcest breeding birds, with substantial declines since the 1980s. 🧵⬇️ #bioacoustics #ornithology
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- Something to celebrate - our 2025 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker report - successful breeding season, the most nests monitored & highest number of chicks fledged per nest since we started in 2015. Acoustic monitoring giving amazing results too, download here www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/images/L_S_W...
- Brilliant! Thanks for including one of my favourite ever pictures. Lots of fun this year with @stuckateur.bsky.social and @angusrobin.bsky.social Already looking forward to the spring
- What a day it was
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- Great to see three of our Sussex birders involved in co-authoring the LSW paper in the Dec copy of British Birds. PAM will be an important tool in the next National Bird Atlas. @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social @mallalieum.bsky.social @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social
- Our paper in December's @britishbirds.bsky.social describes success in using sound recording for detecting Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. We found Lesser Spots still present in woodlands where they have not been seen/heard for years. This is very exciting www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/index.php/ne...
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- 1/ A new study from @lesserspotnet.bsky.social & BTO in @britishbirds.bsky.social looks at how passive acoustic monitoring is an effective way of surveying Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ➡️ www.bto.org/LSWBioacoust... #bioacoustics #ornithology @simongillings.bsky.social @hosbirding.bsky.social
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- Hard to believe that 30 years ago today I started work at @btobirds.bsky.social. In that time I've been fortunate to work on some amazing projects with great colleagues and awesome volunteers. Hopefully more of the same with atlases and acoustics on the horizon
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- Wonderful morning at the Wyre forest rewarded with 20 min of a pair of lesser spotted woodpecker crisp morning perfect @lesserspotnet.bsky.social
- See this encouraging update about Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in the UK. We will have the pleasure of hearing more from Ken and Linda Smith of the LesserSpot Network when they give a talk for BOC about their work, on 18th February 2026 (get it in your diary). #ukbirding
- Something to celebrate - our 2025 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker report - successful breeding season, the most nests monitored & highest number of chicks fledged per nest since we started in 2015. Acoustic monitoring giving amazing results too, download here www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/images/L_S_W...
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- Yes. We need wider monitoring effort across the Country, of the sort described in this @lesserspotnet.bsky.social report. Hopefully the article in next month's British Birds will generate enthusiasm for more widespread field work and acoustic monitoring, which seems to be very effective.
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- Fantastic Ken long may it continue 🤞
- Another gem found today in south wales for a potential LSW site
- Nice to see so many marsh tits locally while assessing potential LSW sites
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- Birdsong is not only beautiful, it’s also full of information. This is where Acoustic Monitoring comes in. Will you support the development of this new and important work? Find out more and donate today ➡️ www.bto.org/acoustic... #bioacoustics #ornithology
- Another page from THE PIED WOODPECKERS. Due out in February. Hope you are enjoying these teasers!
- Woke to a wild and wet morning on the Ceredigion coast, but that's fine as today is indoors at the annual @birdsinwales.bsky.social Conference @aberuni.bsky.social. Look forward to catching up and meeting new people.
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- Yes it did I’ve plenty of new contacts @iolowilliams.bsky.social 🙏👍 🤞
- Great day !! Nice to meet you Julian and nice to get a mention off iolo Williams for the lesser spotted woodpecker work I’m doing for @lesserspotnet.bsky.social in wales
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- A nice present from Mrs K for our anniversary!!
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