Help me find this rare and declining bird please!

I’ve only ever managed to take one poor photo (below) of the elusive and declining lesser spotted woodpecker, and this was taken in the wonderful birding area of Donana in Spain.

It’s our smallest woodpecker not much bigger than a sparrow

This is probably the best time of year to track one down.because they’ll start to display their territories. Best found on the edge of any wooded areas of all sizes in east and south England. The best way to find one is with your ears. Listen out for their drumming sound.

If you hear this drumming display :

Please let me know and good luck!

A Good time to keep an Eye on your local lake.

Did you know that March is a great time to look out for migrating ducks and grebes. So take a walk to your local lake (lockdown restrictions permitting), you might see a common scoter, ring-necked duck, red-breasted merganser or one of the rare, slavonian, black-necked (pictured here) or red-necked grebes.

Four years ago we had a wild hooded merganser fly in to a local lake in Corsham for a couple of days.

These birds tend not to stick around, so daily visits to your local lake could pay dividends.

If you find something different let me know!

Black-necked grebe