Little Gem of a Bird

I received a call from friend Julian Friese who told me he had a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker feeding a young bird in his garden so I drove the short distance to his house to have a look.  Sure enough after a while a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker foraged up a nearby pine and then answered the call of a juvenile and went off to feed it.  What a super little bird they are.  Not much bigger than a House Sparrow but strident with their piercing call.  This species is declining fast in the UK and this is my first sighting for many years.  It was great to be reunited with what is now a rare bird.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - photo by Mike Clarke

Whilst sitting in warm sunshine waiting for the woodpeckers we also noticed a male Common Redstart feeding a youngster, Spotted Flycatcher, Red Kite and a Kingfisher called as it flew up a nearby stream.