Knock, knock, exciting news from our woodpecker survey

Heard but not seen, find out what we discovered in this years woodpecker survey.

This spring the Lost Woods team and our volunteers are supporting The Woodpecker Network with an exciting, innovative survey searching for lesser spotted woodpeckers in Sussex.

Last year we asked people to look and listen out for woodpeckers in the Lost Woods area. We are particularly interested in finding evidence that the declining lesser spotted woodpecker is still breeding in our woodlands.

This year’s survey is using some groundbreaking new techniques developed by Sussex birdwatchers, Ken and Linda Smith, who created ‘The Woodpecker Network’.

Typically finding a lesser spotted woodpecker involves standing in a woodland at the exact same time that these elusive birds start drumming on a tree. And these coincidences can be few and far between.

So, Ken and Linda have been experimenting with passive audio devices, small boxes secured to a tree, which record continuously during daylight hours over a few days. These recordings can then be analysed through software developed in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology which recognises the drums and calls of the woodpeckers. Then the surveyor can manually listen to the highlighted calls for the final verification.

After this approach proved very successful during 2025 Ken and Linda have now organised a county-wide survey in suitable woodlands and have allocated some random 1km squares to the Lost Wood project to survey.

So, over the past few weeks we’ve been trudging through the muddiest woodlands in our area (unfortunately lesser spotted woodpecker love the wettest woodlands!), scanning the treetops, fixing our recorder in suitable positions and hoping for the best.

At home we’ve been playing back the recordings. There have been a few false alarms. A distant Blackbird alarm-calling through the rain which sounded a bit like the woodpecker’s incessant call. And then there was a passing vintage motorbike which did a pretty good impression of the bird’s rapid-fire drumbeat.

But this week we hit the playback button and heard a series of recordings of the lesser spotted woodpecker distinctive drumming at a woodland near Ditchling which, ironically, our surveyors thought was the least likely wood for them. Fantastic news – and an excited ‘Wow!’ from Ken Smith when we sent him the recordings.

Ken says “Lesser spotted woodpeckers are a very elusive bird and are most obvious when drumming in March and April. After April they go very quiet and when there are leaves on the trees you have less chance of seeing them. The best time of day is the first few hours of the morning. The chances of hearing them drumming falls off by the afternoon”.

So now that April (and some better weather!) is here,why not head out into your local woodland and listening out for these treetop drummers. You can read all about our woodland woodpeckers and how to differentiate their drumming in our previous blog.

We’ll keep you posted if we make any more 'Lesser Spotted' discoveries and please do share yours on The Woodpecker Network too.

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