Drumming Up Enthusiasm: harnessing technology to monitor Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers

In this episode we shine the spotlight on the remarkable Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, one of Britain’s rarest and most secretive woodland birds. Join us as we hammer into the details of a pioneering survey with passionate woodpecker-philes, Ken and Linda Smith, who have been deploying innovative audio recorders to find out if these small woodland birds are more widespread than we thought.Ken and Linda share field stories from years of monitoring such an elusive species and how recent breakthroughs in technology and sound analysis have been a real gamechanger for finding where lesser spots are nesting. We’ll find out why the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is so special and why it’s very difficult to find! We explore where they nest, what they feed on, and how this new approach is giving conservationists the tools to help protect these birds and their habitat for the future.